Date: 2021-09-22 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Harem; Science Fiction; Post Apocalyptic; Erotica; Romance; Adult; Survival; Apocalyptic
Description: Alvin had another rough week, but this time, he had Gothy with him. Travelling from Utah to Nevada, they were able to set up two more Settlements. Then they had to visit the world of Fey to rescue the kids of the Beatty, Nevada Settlement. Just when things looked like they were going well, the Developers got involved. With the very rules of the game changing, Alvin found himself in a new position. Gothy pledged herself to him through the game system, leaving her collared and bound to obey his every whim. Coming to terms with their new relationship, Alvin wondered what would come next. He wasn’

Apocalypse Gates

Book Three:

Gearing Up

Author’s Cut

Daniel Schinhofen

Copyright © 2018 Daniel J. Schinhofen

No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form by an electronic or mechanical means – except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews – without the written permission from the publisher.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright © 2018 Daniel J. Schinhofen

All rights reserved.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-three

Chapter Thirty-four

Chapter Thirty-five

Chapter Thirty-six

Chapter Thirty-seven

Chapter Thirty-eight

Chapter Thirty-nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-one

Chapter Forty-two

Chapter One

Alvin was dressed and about to leave the room when he was stopped by Jarvis. “Sir, there’s been a change to the button that returns you to your base.”

Alvin and Becky exchanged a look. “Explain, Jarvis,” Alvin said into the silence.

“Yes sir. Rather than needing to be inside a secure room, as before, now that button will transform the nearest doorway into a portal. It is visible to and useable by only yourself and those in your party. It remains where it was initiated while you are in your Home Base, but upon your exit it ejects everyone within, at least at present. The portal may be summoned once per day, resetting each sunrise. You are still bound by the rule to spend at least eight hours each day in the game.”

“Why do you call it my base, and not my room anymore?” Alvin asked.

“If you glance at your character sheet, sir, you will notice that the upgrade to take miss to your room has also been changed. That Power has been renamed Home Base, and your cell is now considered to be a base that your entire party can use. Upgrades to the base may be purchased, but only from inside. You can no longer do what miss did; there are now set rooms that can be added, and the interior of each room may be modified with XP, but each room must be purchased separately.”

“We cut that close,” Becky murmured. “You still can’t hint which rooms would be best, can you, Jarvis?”

“I can’t, miss. As I told Alvin previously, though, the Home Base is now subject to being viewed just like the game.”

“Really?” Becky asked, a small shiver running down her spine. “So every depraved thing he does to me…”

“Will be seen by his fans, miss, yes,” Jarvis confirmed.

“Oh gods,” Becky’s two words conveyed all the lust she felt at that announcement.

“Down, Gothy. We have things to do today,” Alvin said preemptively.

“Yes, Hero,” Becky was panting just a bit as she squeezed her thighs together.

“No stimulating yourself,” Alvin said firmly.

With a small gasp, her eyes met his and her hand touched the black band around her neck. “You’re an evil, evil man, and I love it.”

Giving her ear a nip, he chuckled as she moaned. “Yes, and it’s the way you wanted it. Now, if you can focus, we have things to do.”

Taking a deep breath, Becky nodded. “I’m ready to help.”

“Jarvis—the portal, does it have to be a building doorway?”

“Yes, sir. It must resemble a normal door. Tents and other temporary structures do not count, nor do armoires and the like,” Jarvis clarified.

“We’ll try to break it later,” Alvin shrugged. Tapping the button produced a doorway filled with a dim light. “At least it isn’t blinding.”

Stepping through the faintly glowing doorway, Alvin and Becky appeared in the room they had used last night. Exiting the room, they made their way upstairs to the great room and found it empty. Poking their heads into the kitchen revealed two older women with grey hair having coffee and chatting.

“Excuse me—Marie and Loralee, right?” Alvin asked.

“I’m Marie, Placido’s wife. This is Laurel, she’s married to Wynn,” the one with glasses said. “Can we help you two?”

“Do you know where Shawn might be?” Alvin asked.

“He was outside the wall, setting up farmland with my husband,” Marie said.

“I think Han was with them,” Laurel added.

“Thanks, we’ll go look,” Alvin said.

“Do you want some breakfast first?” Laurel asked.

“We’ve already eaten,” Becky told her, “but thank you.”

“If you need anything, just holler. We still owe you for helping bring the grandkids back,” Marie added.

“Will do,” Alvin said, then left the two women to their coffee.

“They’re pleasant,” Becky said as they left the house, entering a yard bustling with people going about various tasks. Most of them seemed to be coming or going toward a large vending machine looking device. “Is that the kiosk?”

“Could be. Let’s find Shawn first; I want to get that drake corpse handled before it gets too horrible to deal with.”

“I’m right behind you, Hero,” Becky said, walking two steps to his left and one step behind him.

“Why are you walking back there?” Alvin asked, curious as to why she wasn’t beside him as she usually was.

“Admiring the view,” Becky snickered.

“Get up here where you belong,” Alvin snorted, holding his hand out behind him.

Taking his hand, Becky came even with him as they walked under the open gate. She let go of his hand immediately, though, calling her shotgun and coat into being. Catching the questioning glance Alvin threw at her, she answered his silent question, “Not taking chances that some crazed deer, bird, or anything else might pop up and try killing you again.”

“Fair point. It only takes a thought to summon my gun, so I think I’ll wait,” Alvin replied, summoning his jacket to add more armor to himself.

Becky grinned at the appearance of his jacket, but decided not to call him out on it. They walked around the side of the compound, where they found a dozen men all talking in a group. Placido seemed to be explaining something as they got closer.

“No, we’ll just need to rotate them every time we harvest a crop to make sure that the land doesn’t get drained of the nutrients it needs,” Placido was saying as the two approached. “Morning,” he said, breaking off from the previous topic.

“We just came to see if Shawn had a moment to talk about something,” Alvin said, nodding a greeting to Placido.

“We’re trying to figure out the best layout for the farms,” Shawn said with a shrug. “That might be a bit yet, though. Placido, you mark them out and I’ll set them once you’re done.”

“Okay,” Placido agreed and pointed to three men. “You guys were out here with me earlier, go set the markers where I talked about setting them up. The rest of you come with me, we’re going to see if we can get the water tower to feed the fields.”

“What did you need?” Shawn asked as he stepped over to Alvin and Becky.

“With the way things work now, and the fact that stuff can be sold to the kiosk, I was hoping to get some tools to go skin a drake,” Alvin grinned. “I’ll cut you in on it—even split.”

“An even split, even though you can’t do it without tools?” Shawn asked with a raised eyebrow. “If you want to harvest the entire thing, we’re going to need a couple of trucks and more people.”

“We’re?” Becky asked.

“I’m going with,” Shawn said, his eyes focusing on her neck before he shook his head. “You two are certainly outside the norm.”

Becky giggled and touched her neck, “Isn’t it great?”

“I’ll grab a couple of people and get some tools. Give me, say, about fifteen minutes. I want to pass along some more work before we go…” Shawn’s words trailed off as his eyes grew a little distant.

“Shawn?” Alvin prompted after a minute.

“Sorry, a thought just struck me. I’ll go get things moving,” Shawn said before he walked away.

Watching him go, Becky frowned. “What do you think he was contemplating?”

“Who knows?” Alvin shrugged. “Maybe he’ll tell us later.” Giving her a nudge of his hip, he started walking. “Let’s go check the kiosk. I want to see what’s changed.”

Back inside the compound, they joined the small line waiting for the kiosk. Alvin’s lips pursed as he waited, and he made a mental note to see what a second kiosk would cost a Settlement. The line wasn’t long, and people didn’t linger, so they weren’t waiting too long, but that might not always be the case.

Once they’d gotten to the kiosk, Alvin chuckled as he examined it, “A cross between a standard computer and a vending machine.” A touchscreen keyboard was on an adjustable platform that could be easily modified for the person using the kiosk. The display was also a touchscreen, which could be used to quickly shift though search results.

Stepping aside after a minute, the couple started toward the Mustang. “The interface was much easier to use,” Becky said. “I wonder if the store pads that Jarvis provides will be similar?”

“We can find out easily enough,” Alvin said as he opened the Mustang’s door. “Jarvis, pad please.”

A pad appeared on the dashboard as Becky slid into her seat. “To answer your question, it is indeed the same interface, miss,” Jarvis answered her.

“Good to know,” Becky said as she picked up the pad and began flipping through various pages. “Anything you were really interested about, Hero?”

“Can we sell items to the store from this pad, Jarvis?” Alvin asked as he closed the car door and leaned into the open window.

“Unfortunately, sir, no,” Jarvis replied. “Did you notice the compartment at the bottom of the kiosk?”

“Yeah.”

“That is where items sold to the kiosk are placed for collection, and where items purchased are delivered,” Jarvis told them. “You can possibly see about different ways to update your Home Base.”

“Well that sounds like a hint,” Becky chuckled. “We’ll do that next time we get back to the base. I guess that’s to make us want to go back to the Settlements. If we could just sell in the Mustang, we wouldn’t go to them nearly as much.”

“True enough,” Alvin said.

“We’re ready,” Shawn called out to them.

Alvin looked over and saw half a dozen people climbing into two trucks. Shawn waved and got into the driver’s seat of one of them. “See you at the body,” Alvin grinned. “Jarvis, start the car,” he said as he walked around the car. The vehicle rumbled to life before he slid into the seat.

Putting the car into gear, Alvin asked a question that had been bugging him. “So, how can the car drive and such if the key is in my pocket still?”

“Look at the ignition,” Becky told him.

Doing as she said, Alvin could just make out a blue ghostly key inserted into the ignition. “Huh, that works for me. Jarvis, can I order you to always have the car started when I’m getting into it?”

“Indeed you can, sir,” a hint of humor colored Jarvis’ tone.

“Then that is a command; always have the car ready for me when I get into it,” Alvin chuckled.

“He’s gotten so demanding, hasn’t he, Jarvis?” Becky asked with a straight face.

“I refuse to comment,” Jarvis deadpanned right back.

“You’re just trying to get a rise out of me,” Alvin said, glancing at Becky as he turned onto the main road. “I’m not that easily manipulated, Gothy, you should know that.”

Pouting, Becky nodded. “It was still worth a try.”

“I wonder if the ravens will still be there?” Alvin mused as he shifted gears again, changing the subject.

“I hope not,” Becky said. “I still think they might Hitchcock us.”

Laughing, Alvin let his hand slip over to Becky’s thigh after shifting again. “They were friendly. Besides, with our armor as it stands, we can easily hold them off while we kill them.”

“Fair enough,” Becky said as she covered his hand with hers. “If I give you a surprise, will you remove the no self-stimulation order?”

“If it’s a real surprise that doesn’t involve you doing anything sexual, yes,” Alvin said, expecting her to back down at that point.

“Jarvis?” Becky grinned. “Music, please.”

“As you say, miss,” Jarvis replied with a chuckle as one of Alvin’s favorite songs came over the radio.

“What the fuck?” Alvin said as the song “Pro” by Neffex started playing. “How did you know I like this song, and how is this even possible?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a loophole,” Becky laughed as she felt the previous order lift from her. “Jarvis told me some of the songs you used to enjoy that came out after 2000, so they’re in the list of songs I bought for our base. As for how it can play here, Jarvis can play music for us. When I bought the songs, I asked if he could play them in the car and he said he wasn’t sure. I had him check, and then kept it secret to surprise you.” She gave one of her breasts a quick squeeze to verify she could indeed cause herself pleasure before dropping her hand back to her lap.

“Yeah, you won. I was completely surprised,” Alvin said as the song continued playing. “You know this song makes me think of you now, right?”

“I thought it might,” Becky smiled at him. “Along with that other song by the same artist. Which, if you change the lyrics slightly, could be used to describe this whole world now.”

“‘Backstage?’” Alvin asked.

“Uh huh,” Becky said. “‘Oh the good girls they go to heaven, but the bad girls they get backstage.’ That’s the normal chorus, but if we tweak it slightly…” Trailing off, she sang, “All the good girls have gone to heaven, but the bad girls are here to stay…” she grinned.

Jaw dropping, Alvin considered the change just as the song began to play. Nodding along to the music, he had to agree; with just a subtle change, that song did indeed fit. “Wow, when did you even listen to the song?”

“When you fell asleep in the tub,” Becky replied. “I have a whole new twist to that song, having changed more of the lyrics to fit. Maybe if you’re nice to me, I’ll sing it for you next time.”

Coming to a flat stretch of road, Alvin smirked as he reached over and tangled a hand in her hair and dragged her toward him, stealing a passionate kiss before releasing her and putting both hands back on the wheel. “Was that nice enough?”

Hands twitching slightly, Becky shook her head. “Evil…you do know that I already want to jump you again just from the news about always being watched, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Alvin’s smirk grew. “No play until later tonight, though.”

Taking a shuddering breath, Becky’s hand slipped to his thigh. “What if I brat?”

“Then I’ll force you to obey. That collar is very good at making you listen,” Alvin chuckled.

“You won’t always go straight for the collar, will you?” her voice grew a little concerned.

“No, I’ll let you brat a little, as I know you need that as well,” Alvin said honestly.

“You really do know me,” Becky said happily, her hand slowly creeping toward his groin.

“Yes, yes I do,” Alvin said as he captured her hand and set it back on his lower thigh. “Watch the sky in case the ravens do attack.”

Blowing a raspberry at him, she did as he asked, continuing to gently stroke his thigh. “You’re just trying to stop me from using my feminine wiles on you.”

“Guilty,” Alvin snickered.

Chapter Two

The drive to the corpse was quiet, and they didn’t find any ravens waiting for them. As they approached the rotting body, the smell was beginning to become pungent. Wrinkling their noses, Alvin and Becky exchanged a glance as the trucks came rumbling to a stop beside them.

“Well, it’s obviously dead,” Shawn coughed, his face twisted in disgust. “It seems to be missing all its teeth and a number of claws already, too.”

“We pulled them off the other day,” Alvin replied. “What tools did you bring?”

Han got out of the other truck, taking a chainsaw from the guy in the back. “We’ve got a few power tools. Figured they would have the best chance to deal with the hide.”

“Make sure to get the blades between the scales,” Alvin said. “I’m fairly certain that, with the changes, just about any blade we have will break if it hits one of them.”

“I figured,” Han drawled. “Ivan, Milo, let’s see what we can do.”

“Lucas, Steve, grab the sledges and let’s see about those other claws,” Shawn called out to the two with him, who already had the hammers in hand. Grinning at Alvin, Shawn chuckled, “What are you two going to do?”

“Stand guard,” Alvin said. “Seen too many attacks during simple things like moving cars to feel safe out here. Do any of you have the Contracted Power?”

Heads shook all around before Shawn asked the obvious question. “What does that Power do?”

Opening his car door, Alvin grinned. “Jarvis, fill Shawn in on the Leader and Contracted Powers.”

“As you command, sir,” Jarvis replied, immediately launching into the explanation.

Lucas and Steve shook their heads as they went to the closest foot that still had claws and started working. Han, Ivan, and Milo, each with a chainsaw, discovered in short order that the only place they could make any progress on the hide was the wound the ravens had been using. With that bottlenecking them, Han started first, his chainsaw whining as he got it to start cutting toward the front of the drake.

Becky and Alvin stood to the side, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of danger. Alvin looked at Shawn as he shut the car door. “You going to grab that Power?”

“Leader is a must,” Shawn said, rubbing at his chin. “Han and I will probably both pick that up, and we’ll have anyone who’s going to go outside the Settlement pick up Contracted. Just makes sense to have solid parties earning XP in the most efficient way.”

“Makes sense,” Alvin said.

A second chainsaw started up and the whine of them cutting echoed across the desert. “Seems like they have it and I’m not needed, either,” Shawn chuckled as he looked at the men busy dismantling the drake.

“You might want to open the door back up, then,” Alvin smirked. “Jarvis can fill you in on what’s changed, since you’re not busy.”

Shawn opened his mouth, then shut it and did as suggested. Sliding into the driver’s side with the door open, Shawn asked Jarvis to fill him in.

Becky giggled softly, “You’re always going to be blunt, aren’t you?”

“I am who I am,” Alvin shrugged. “I don’t think he minds it much, since he was used to Millhouse and everyone says he was an asshole, too.”

“Fair enough, Hero.” Becky snickered, “I’m surprised there wasn’t anything out here eating the body.”

Alvin winced. “Did you have to say it?”

“Oh, come on,” Becky rolled her eyes, “what do you think is going to happen? There are no shapes in the sky, and we don’t see anything coming toward us.”

Alvin frowned. “You want a fight, don’t you?”

Becky blinked and put a hand to her chest. “Me?”

Alvin had just opened his mouth when a scream from the far side of the drake prompted them both to take off running before they fully realized what they had heard. The chainsaws stopped, and gunshots sounded clearly. Four of the five men came running around the body before Alvin and Becky could go the other way.

As they started around the tail, Han came stumbling toward them. His right hand was shredded and his 1911 was locked back with no rounds left in the gun. “Ants,” he hissed as he went past them.

Becky stepped around the drake with her shotgun already up, and as soon as she cleared the obstruction, she fired. She racked the action and fired the next round, repeating until she had to fall back behind Alvin, flicking the safety on to reload. “It’s a fucking nest.”

Stepping around her, he took his gun off safety. His eyes widened as he spotted at least six dozen ants the size of his chest swarming out of a five-foot hole in the ground just a foot away from the corpse. Bringing the rifle up as one of the ants snapped its mandibles in his direction, Alvin rapid tapped the trigger for a triple burst. The first two rounds hit the exoskeleton, cracking it, then the third shattered it around the head of the ant, which started to back away in a panic. The round dug into the soft flesh underneath the carapace, but failed to kill it. Alvin triple tapped the trigger again and the ant fell dead on the second hit.

Shifting his aim to the next ant, which was bigger than the first one, Alvin took a deep breath as it rushed at him. He pulled the trigger as fast as he could, while keeping the gun on target. It took four rounds to shatter the exoskeleton on its head and another five to kill it. It finally dropped just short of Alvin’s feet.

The other ants seemed to be heading for the drake, crawling into the corpse unconcerned by the gunfire, but another of the big ones came out of the hole and turned to face Alvin. “Fucking soldier ants,” Alvin hissed, firing twelve rounds into the new one as it tried to dodge the shots. Stepping back, he pulled the magazine to reload, allowing Becky to go around him. “Soldiers are tougher,” he warned her as he slapped the magazine back into the rifle.

Becky grunted as she went around him, her shotgun ready to fire again. She fired off her five rounds quickly, then backed up. “Dropped one, one coming, wounded.”

Alvin stepped around her and fired two shots into the unarmored head of the ant that had charged after Becky. Looking past the recently deceased ant, he watched the workers pulling chunks of rotting meat out of the corpse and carting them back to their nest. He didn’t get long to take it in as three soldier ants came out, one after the other. “Fuck me,” Alvin snarled as he aimed at the closest of the trio and began to fire. One of them dropped and the second was wounded before Alvin had to backpedal to buy time. “Gothy, wait for it.” The second one died and Alvin fired the last few rounds, damaging the exoskeleton of the last before he ran dry. “Now!”

The ant passed the edge of the drake and came into her field of fire. Three slugs pounded into it, killing it. Putting the gun back on safety, she looked at Alvin, who had just gotten the magazine reseated in his rifle. “Any more?”

“Workers, but give it a moment,” Alvin said. “Maybe this is a new nest, and we won’t have that many to deal with. We can wipe them out and…” Alvin trailed off as he watched a worker that was chewing at the drake’s hide, to no apparent effect. “They have problems with it, too,” Alvin snorted. “Check on Han. I’ll keep an eye here.”

“His hand is fucked,” Shawn said, voice grim, as he joined them. Ivan and Milo were close behind him. “He’s going to need whatever kind of healing this game has.”

Becky pulled out one of the medkits and handed it to Milo. “Have him put that directly on the wound.”

Milo took it and hurried off. As he left, Shawn let out a deep breath, “Thank you. I’ll pay you back once we’re home. Now, what do we do about these ants?”

“Hang on,” Alvin said, shouldering his rifle as he went around the drake’s flank. Almost emptying the magazine, he was able to kill two more soldiers before he had to duck back around and reload. “We’re picking off the soldiers first. Then we can see about the workers, and maybe that will prompt the queen to come up to us.”

“Do we want that?” Shawn asked with a frown. “Because this kind of feels like a ‘spawn the mini-boss’ encounter right now.”

Alvin’s mouth opened, then closed, before he began nodding. “You know what… you’re right. This does feel like that.” Looking at Becky, he raised an eyebrow. “Gothy, feel like killing a mini-boss?”

Taking the safety off the shotgun, she gave him a manic smile. “Fuck yes!”

“Looks like we’re good to go,” Alvin said, turning his attention back to Shawn. “You’re not in a group with me, so maybe you guys should hang out by the trucks while we do this.”

Shawn’s frown deepened. “I’ll be right back.”

Alvin watched him stalk off and shrugged. “I thought it made sense.”

“Wanna bet he’s going to buy the Contracted or Leadership Power?” Becky asked.

“No bet,” Alvin said as he agreed with her. “I hope he picks up Contracted. Jarvis, give him a pad and let him buy what he wants; same for the others here with us.”

“You abuse the system,” Becky snickered as she looked around the drake. “Two more soldiers, you good to kill them?”

“With you beside me? Fuck yes,” Alvin said, motioning with his chin. “You first.”

Stepping out around the drake, Becky frowned. “Hero, I don’t see any more soldier ants.”

Joining her, Alvin noticed that the bodies of ants they’d killed near the nest were gone. “Fuckers are taking our loot down as food.” Bringing the gun up, he took aim at the workers nearest the drake and began to fire. By the time the magazine ran dry, he had killed five of them. Becky joined in, claiming two more herself. As they reloaded, some of the other workers nudged the dead and began carrying them back toward the nest.

“Okay, how do we do this?” Shawn asked from behind the couple.

“Jarvis told you the words, right?” Alvin said, not taking his eyes from the nest.

“Yeah, but I don’t know your name,” Shawn grumbled.

“Alvin Leon Lambert,” Alvin said tightly, really disliking his full name and wondering if there was a way to change it in the store.

“Fine, let’s get this done,” Shawn said. “I, Shawn Botham, offer this Binding Pledge to you, Alvin Leon Lambert. I pledge to be a unit in your party until we finish killing these fucking ants and finish scavenging the drake’s body. I require an equal share of all loot for my services, and the services of my friends.”

“I accept,” Alvin said simply, feeling a small tug at his wrist. A black line of energy shot between the two men’s wrists.

Shawn looked at the small, simple black band, with the initials ALL centered on the back of his wrist. “So that’s what he was talking about,” Shawn muttered before focusing on Alvin. “What’s the plan?”

“Is your gun upgraded for infinite ammo?” Alvin asked.

“Yes,” Shawn said as he pushed the safety off the M14, then patted the .44 on his hip. “Both of them.”

“Not upgraded for Armor Buster though, right?” Becky asked.

“The rifle is, but the handgun is Bloody. I figured it would be worth it, since we had to burn all the XP we had,” Shawn said. “The others would help out, but none of them have the XP to buy the Contracted Power at the moment.”

“You used Settlement XP?” Alvin asked.

“Yes, because if we do this, it will more than make up for it,” Shawn said.

“Works. So, the plan is to kill them until they stop coming, and if nothing happens, we’ll check the nest,” Alvin told them. “Anything either of you want to add?”

“I have some explosives in the truck if we need them,” Shawn added. “I’d rather not use them, but if need be, we can.”

“If we have to go into the hole, let me lead,” Becky said seriously. “It costs less for my extra lives.”

Alvin locked eyes with her. “You think I’ll use you as a bullet shield?”

“No, but it makes sense from a practical standpoint,” Becky said, not backing down.

“You have a point, but it doesn’t make me like it or more inclined to agree,” Alvin said, stepping closer so they were inches apart. “If you’re going to lead, we will be changing weapons, understand?”

“Yes, Hero,” Becky agreed, her eyes sparkling happily. “Shall we take out the trash mobs first?”

Shawn frowned as he watched them. “I’m ready to go, if you two are done flirting.”

Lips twisting into a smirk, Alvin grabbed Becky and kissed her hungrily before turning her loose. “I’m good now,” he said, shouldering his rifle. “Reload as needed, but keep going as long as there’s a target.”

“Roger,” Shawn said as he shouldered his M14, “going hot.”

“I always am,” Becky said, then fired the first shot.

Shawn’s face went red and he stared after her for a full second before he shook off the surprise and added his firepower to theirs. They mowed down worker ants by the dozen, and close to a hundred ants finally lay dead before they stopped coming.

Waiting for a couple of minutes, they glanced around at each other when no more ants came forth. “Shall we?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, we can go take a peek,” Alvin said, making sure his gun was fully reloaded.

“Just remember: if we go in, I get to deflower it,” Becky said as she started walking toward the nest.

“Is she always making sexual comments?” Shawn asked, just loud enough to carry over the ringing in his ears from the recent gunfire.

“Yeah. Isn’t she great?” Alvin replied as he followed her.

Silently shaking his head, Shawn followed, wondering if this was the best idea. Becky was the first to the hole, peering in and letting out a soft whistle as she waited for them to catch up.

Looking in, Alvin saw a roughly round hole that might have been four feet in diameter that dropped at a steep, but climbable, angle. “Industrious little fuckers, ain’t they?” Alvin said as he tried to gauge the depth.

“We going in? It looks a little small for us,” Shawn said.

“Ducking or knee walking,” Becky said. “Or do we just leave them be now?”

“A nest this close to Beatty, with ants that size? Imagine if they really took off,” Alvin said.

Shawn blanched. “So we’re going in to find the queen and end her?”

“That’s what it sounds like he wants to do,” Becky said, holding her shotgun out to Alvin and motioning with her other hand. “Give me that big, beautiful weapon of yours, Hero,” her smile was wicked as she all but purred her request.

“You can have the rifle, for now,” Alvin said, not giving her a line she could twist even more. His face went serious as he accepted her shotgun in exchange. “I’ll be aiming to your left, so if you have to fall back, fall to your right.”

Smile fading away, Becky nodded. “Got it.” Her eyes flicked to Shawn. “What about him?”

Shawn raised an eyebrow. “I’m going in behind Alvin. If you both run dry, go flat and I’ll cover while you reload.”

“Okay, that’s the plan,” Alvin said as he looked down the hole again. “Gothy?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t take chances. Even though you have an extra life, we don’t know what that really means.”

“As you command, Hero,” Becky said with a soft smile before she stepped into the hole, dropping to her butt and sliding down the slope.

“Damn it,” Alvin hissed as he dropped in after her.

“Maybe this isn’t my best idea ever,” Shawn muttered, then followed them.

Chapter Three

The bottom of the decline was littered with dead ants. Becky took a knee, scanning past the corpses down the sights of Alvin’s rifle. Alvin slid to a stop behind her, adopting the same pose, and crept forward enough so that Shawn had room behind him.

“If they haven’t taken these bodies yet, then the Queen might be the only one left. Or, they’ve pulled back and might be getting ready to cut this passage off from the rest of the nest,” Becky said softly. “I’m going to move as quickly as I can until we make contact with anything.”

Shawn looked at the tunnel walls. “I’m glad this valley is full of caliche.” He touched the wall to his right, running his hand across the hard earth. “If this was soft ground, I wouldn’t want to be down here at all.”

“Let’s hope it’s a new nest, and not that extensive yet,” Alvin said as Becky started to move forward.

They traveled for at least a hundred yards, Becky using a pencil flashlight to give them light, before she came to a stop. “The tunnel continues, but also drops down six feet or so. Do we cross or go down?”

“Down. The Queen isn’t likely to be on the first level of the complex,” Alvin told her, pulling another flashlight from his bag to add more light to the tunnels. “Just go easy. If the walls look bad, we’re going to pull out and grab the demo to collapse what we can.”

“I’m not going to disagree,” Shawn said as he checked the walls again. “Glad none of us are claustrophobic, or this wouldn’t be working at all.”

“This isn’t small,” Becky murmured, “a suitcase is small.”

Alvin filed that statement away for later consideration as Becky began to move again. He dropped down into the lower tunnel after her. “Now this is a conundrum—left or right,” Alvin muttered.

“Always go left,” Shawn said from above them.

“Why?” Alvin asked.

“We always went left during our dungeon runs in games,” Shawn shrugged. “It worked for us, most of the time anyway.”

“Hero?” Becky asked, doubt clear in her voice.

“Not like we have anything else to go on,” Alvin said as he rubbed the back of her neck briefly. “Go left. With you leading us, I think we’ll find the way.”

Becky was purring softly as she started down the left fork, filled with a warm confidence by Alvin’s praise. Her gun was up as she slunk along the tunnel with a small smile on her face.

The tunnel system continued to sprawl, with tunnels darting off in different directions. Some were dead ends and they didn’t find any more lower levels. Long minutes dragged on even further before Becky came to an abrupt stop. Before anyone could ask what had caused her to pause, she crept forward.

Reaching out with the tip of her gun, she nudged an ant corpse, causing it to shift so its very damaged head could be seen. “This must be the right way,” she told them. “This is the first body we’ve seen since the start.”

“That means the larder is nearby, and the queen’s room is generally near that,” Alvin said.

Becky looked back at him and he shrugged. “I read a lot before, so I know some useless facts.”

Going around the dead ant, Becky led them around a curve in the tunnel, where she slowed again. Fungus was growing along the walls and some of the floor. Decaying flesh, dead ants, and other materials were spread out in a way that apparently encouraged the fungus to grow. Across the room, the tunnel continued into darkness. Becky’s penlight wasn’t powerful enough to do more than hint at what lay beyond.

“Ready to go?” Becky asked as she looked at the fifteen-foot-wide room with its six-foot ceiling. “We can stretch a little going through here,” she said, breathing shallowly, as the stench of the room was less than pleasant.

“A quick stretch, but don’t linger,” Alvin said as the smell drifted back to him.

Entering the room, Becky got to her feet and stretched out her back, waiting for the other two to do the same. Once they had taken a moment, Becky crossed the room and crouched, as the tunnel went back to the narrow diameter it had been.

Her penlight illuminated a tunnel that stretched for a handful of feet before turning sharply. From up ahead, the sound of movement could be heard. “Think she’s just around this corner,” Becky told them.

They followed her down the tunnel, and it began opening up a little as they approached the next bend. Becky was able to get to her feet, only ducking down a little. Alvin did the same, but had to duck more, and Shawn followed along behind, in much the same position as Alvin.

The sound of mandibles clacking caught Becky’s attention, and she slowed her pace as she came to the bend. Leaning against the wall, she poked her head around the corner with the flashlight before pulling back.

“Okay, that looks disgusting,” Becky blanched.

“What is it?” Alvin asked.

“A whole lot of ants, all interlocked with each other forming a good thirty-foot sphere,” Becky said.

“The room is that big?” Alvin asked.

“Even bigger, I would say, and the walls are covered with eggs,” Becky told him. “I’m guessing the queen is in there somewhere.”

“Maybe inside the other ants,” Alvin murmured, something about the description tickling the back of his mind. “We’ll just have to see what they do.”

“I think I should go get the explosives. We can toss them in and let them do the work for us,” Shawn said.

Alvin eyed the mass of ants and shook his head. “I think we can use them, but we need to chip that shell of ants away first to be sure we get the queen.”

“I’ll go get them,” Shawn said as he triggered the flashlight on the rail of his M14. “Don’t die before I get back.”

“Don’t die before you get back,” Alvin replied. “We’ll give you a few minutes, then we’re going to start in on these things.”

Nodding, Shawn headed back the way they’d come. A few moments after he left, Becky leaned against Alvin. “Do you think they’ll attack en masse?”

“I don’t think so,” Alvin said, turning enough to put an arm around her. “I think they’re all worker ants, forming a protective shell around her until more soldiers can be born. There’s at least one type of ant that does this.”

“Book learning,” Becky snorted softly, “really?”

“Some of it,” Alvin said. “The other parts are things that stuck when I’ve gone surfing the web.”

“Huh,” Becky said as she leaned away from him just a little, so he could let her go if he wanted to.

Tightening his grip on her, he dipped his head and kissed her. Breaking it before it could turn into something they might both regret, he turned the corner and looked around the edge. “Switch with me,” he said, holding out her shotgun.

He looked back at her with a grin, “Ready for some more fun, Gothy?”

“Of course I am, Hero,” Becky grinned back. “We going to just punch straight through?”

“To start with. We’ll see what happens when we start killing ants,” Alvin said as he took a deep breath. “I’ll go first.” Bracing himself for all hell to break loose, he slipped around the bend of the tunnel and began firing single shots.

It took three rounds to get through the carapace and actually damage the first ant he targeted, then another two rounds to kill it. None of the ants making up the giant ball moved or shifted, and the corpse remained in place, held by its fellows.

“Well, fuck,” Alvin said as he stared at the mass of insects. “This is going to be tougher than I thought.”

Becky stepped up beside him to see what he was talking about. “They’re holding the dead one in place? That’s unexpected.”

“Hmph. Well, they didn’t break, and none of them have come after us, so let’s see what happens if we kill a few more.”

“Sounds like fun to me, Hero.”

A painfully high pitched chittering started up, emanating from the ball of ants and echoing down the tunnel. The dead ant was pushed out of the net and a large compound eye looked right at them for a moment before ants began to shift, closing the gap.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Alvin said, shifting backwards and wincing. “Get back to the fungus room where it narrows into the other tunnel. We need a bottleneck.”

Becky took off running as fast as she could. Alvin looked back around the corner and his eyes went wide. Fleeing after her, he hoped he could outdistance the bugs. “Fuck... me… Run faster!”

Becky glanced over her shoulder as she crossed the fungus room, her eyes going wide as she saw the ants surging out of the tunnel behind Alvin. “Yes, run faster!” she said, running toward the tunnel across the room. Without slowing, she dropped into a slide, letting her momentum carry her feet first into the narrow tunnel.

Alvin watched her slide and glanced back once more, seeing over a hundred worker ants surging at him. He dropped into a slide of his own, rolling onto his stomach and summoning his rifle.

Even before he’d come to a complete stop, the first few ants entered the tunnel. “Stay down!” Becky shouted, firing as he slid to a stop next to, and under, her.

They opened fire on the ants, killing them off as fast as they were able. It took several shots to kill each one, with the first shots breaking away the thick carapace armor.

“We can hold them,” Alvin shouted, his ears ringing as the tunnel began to fill with dead ants.

They’d both reloaded many times when ants finally stopped trying to push through the pile of their dead, and Alvin and Becky were able to catch their breaths. “Fuck, that was intense,” Becky exhaled.

“Yeah,” Alvin agreed as he lay there breathing heavily, the air thick with smoke and the smell of gunpowder, rotting meat, and fungus. “I hope Shawn gets back soon.”

Minutes went by as they waited, and eventually they could make out a light in the tunnel behind them. “Holy fuck, what happened?” Shawn asked as he got closer.

“The queen was in the middle of a giant ball of ants. She was less than amused that we killed one of them,” Alvin said. “You got the explosives?”

Shawn held up a large bundle of dynamite that had all been taped together with the fuses tied to a single point. “This is probably more than we need.”

“I don’t know about that,” Becky said. “It takes a lot to break through the shells of the smaller ones. I suggest using all of it. Overkill is never a bad idea.”

“We have to get back to her first,” Alvin reminded them both. “They stopped trying to come in the tunnel, but who knows what the fuck they’re doing now?”

“Only one way to find out,” Shawn said. “Oh, by the way, we got one of the trucks backed up to the hole and have a rope coming down it now. It was a bitch going up that shaft without help.”

“That’s what took you so long,” Alvin nodded. “Okay, let’s loot these bodies and then—”

He was cut off as a bit of the ceiling collapsed onto him, followed by ants pouring down from the newly opened tunnel. Becky leaned back and fired up at the mass in the ceiling. “Plug the hole,” she shouted at Shawn.

Alvin swapped his rifle for the hand gun with a thought, freeing his right arm to keep the mandibles of the ant on top of him away from his neck. His gunfire was lost amid the others, but he felt the ant slump as the gun locked open on the empty chamber. A second ant landed on him, forcing him to jam his left arm into its mandibles as it started attacking him. Summoning the rifle again, he pushed it against the abdomen of his attacker and pulled the trigger until the ant stopped moving. Unfortunately for him, more ants pushed their dead brethren out of the way, burying Alvin under their bodies.

“Hero!” Becky screamed. She had to pause to reload while Shawn kept firing.

“I’m alive,” he yelled, struggling to get free of the tangle of limbs and bodies. His hand touched one and a pop-up asking if he wanted to loot it hung in the air in front of him. Accepting the loot prompt caused the ant’s body to vanish, making it easier for him to wriggle free. He accepted the others, letting the items lay on the floor as he brought his gun to bear on the hole. “Fuckers, eat this.”

After another minute, the push of ants stopped. Panting, the three of them looked at each other as they reloaded. “Well, are we going to try killing all of them?” Shawn asked as he looted a body and helped Becky gather up the items on the floor.

“Preferably not,” Alvin said. “We just need to kill the bitch. So I have a plan that Gothy isn’t going to like.”

Face going blank, Becky stared at him. “You’re not going to—”

“We’ll loot the bodies,” Alvin said, cutting her off, “and when the way is clear, I’m going for the queen. I’ll be fully armored up and running. You both need to keep them off me as best you can. When I come back this way, you need to run. I’ll be behind you, and I don’t want to be in the tunnel when that stack goes off.”

“No,” Becky said, glaring at him. “This isn’t acceptable.”

“It is,” Alvin said, staring her down, “I want this bitch dead for fucking with my nice easy day. Do what I say.” Holding out his rifle to her, he kept his eyes locked on hers.

“I want you to make this stupidity up to me later. I don’t agree with this, I should be the one to go,” Becky said, not taking the rifle.

Objectively, she was right. Her extra life cost less, but at the same time, if someone had to die, he would rather it be him. “You had the lead all way down here, so this one is mine. Besides, my Nimbleness is higher. That gives me the edge on dodging or squirming free.”

Grabbing him, she kissed him and pressed him against the wall. Pushing clear, she sniffled, “If you die, I’m going to be very upset, extra life or not.”

“I’m not dying in this hole,” Alvin told her, holding his rifle out to her again. “Give me the shotgun.”

The frown stayed on Becky’s face as she reluctantly handed him her shotgun. “I’ll loot them,” Shawn said, sliding around them both. “It will be a moment.”

Alvin kept his eyes locked on Becky. “Faith?”

Finally dropping her eyes, she nodded and touched her neck. “I’ll trust you.”

Grabbing her, he nipped her ear. “I’ll make it up in ways you’ll enjoy tonight, but this is going to happen from time to time.”

Shivering and nodding, Becky sighed, “I still think it should be me.”

“We’ll trade off as long as we both have extra lives, fair?”

“No, but yes,” she sighed as she grabbed him and kissed him hard.

“Last few bodies,” Shawn called out to them.

Breaking the kiss, he rested his head against hers. “Keep me safe.”

“Damned right I will,” Becky growled.

Alvin waited, and as the last body vanished, he was through the hole and sprinting for the queen’s room with dynamite in hand, pulling a lighter from his pocket as he went. Gunshots behind him told Alvin that there were ants chasing him, but he had faith in Becky to keep them off him.

No ants were in his way as he entered the far tunnel. He skidded around the final bend to the queen’s room with his head ducked. Coming to a stop with his penlight clenched in his teeth, he saw the monstrously bloated queen and a feral smile came to him as he got the flame lit. Touching it to the fuse, he tossed it right at her eye. Spitting the light into his hand, he turned to run. “Suck on that.”

He dodged the few ants between him and the fungus room. Though some of their mandibles grazed him as he ran by, he ignored their attempts to hinder him. He could see muzzle flashes from ahead of him as he crossed the room, a couple of ants falling dead between him and the exit.

“Run!” he yelled as he approached the opening. “Don’t stop, just go.” The lights in the tunnel dimmed as both of them turned and scrambled away. Clenching his penlight in his teeth again, Alvin came in hard, sliding into the hole at speed. Rolling as he slid, he got faced the right way and began crawling after the retreating forms in front of him.

A minute later, a loud boom echoed down the tunnels. The walls shook and dust fell as the tunnels started to become unstable. Becky hissed around her penlight as she kept going, the bouncing light of Shawn’s rifle bobbing along behind her. A frown crossed her face and she slowed, letting Shawn pass her as she turned to look for Alvin.

The tunnels rumbled again and more dust fell. “We have to go,” Shawn said.

Pulling the light from her mouth, Becky snarled at him, “Not without Hero.”

“Go,” Alvin’s voice came from down the tunnel as more dust fell, filling the air with thick haze. “That’s an order, Gothy.”

The collar on her neck warmed, and she felt an overwhelming urge to flee as she had been ordered. Resisting the command, she tried to wait, but the collar began to prickle at her neck and the urge became stronger and stronger. The light was cut off by a large puff of dust and Becky let out a scream of rage, “Hero!”

“Go, damn it,” Alvin coughed as he kept going forward. “I’ll be right behind you. Trust me, now go!”

His confidence and the collar forced her to obey. Shawn was already distant, as he hadn’t waited after Alvin’s first command. Becky was gaining on Shawn with her better Nimbleness and Hardiness. As she went, she kept glancing over her shoulder, but didn’t see any lights.

Shawn suddenly jumped up and scrambled away. Becky slid to a halt, even with the collar warm on her neck and her brain telling her she had to go. Looking at the way up, she waited against the compulsion to go.

She looked back at the tunnel in time to see Alvin coming toward her. “Go!” he shouted again as he scrambled forward, his face covered in dust, and a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

Becky didn’t hesitate, just leapt and started toward the exit. Glancing back one more time, she watched Alvin make the jump and follow after her. He still had the same feral smile on his face he’d had when he tossed the dynamite at the queen, even with the dust and blood covering him.

Chapter Four

The rope anchored to the truck proved very useful as they climbed out of the hole. Becky grabbed Alvin for a kiss as he emerged in a cloud of dust. Wrapping his arms around her, he pushed her against the tailgate of the truck and returned the kiss with interest.

“Damn…” someone said after a minute, which finally got the couple to stop.

“You asshole,” Becky said, wiping at his face to see how bad the damage was. “I thought you were going to get buried back there.”

“You’re not the only one,” Alvin agreed, spitting to the side in an attempt to get some of the grit out of his mouth. “What the fuck was taped to the dynamite?”

Shawn brushed dirt out of his hair and chuckled, “Mostly nails and screws. Though, there might have been a little extra kick in the middle of the dynamite.”

“Little?” Alvin asked.

“What we had with us,” Han said from nearby. “Dad makes the stuff. It's kind of like Tannerite; it reacts to other explosives going off and seems to amplify the effects. I take it the tunnel had issues?”

As if waiting for that cue, the ground suddenly shifted a few hundred feet away, a crater a good thirty feet deep forming with a roar and cloud of dust. “I’d say so,” Becky replied with a glance at Han.

“Ooops,” Han laughed. “I’ll make sure to use less next time. Was that enough to kill the queen?”

“Since the tunnel just collapsed, I’m going to say yes,” Alvin shrugged. “I’ll find out when I get back to the car. I see you guys have been hard at work,” he motioned to the men cutting the hide off the drake.

“Didn’t see a reason not to work,” Han said, scratching his chin. “Thanks for the healing thing, it worked nicely,” he wiggled his previously injured hand. “Can you guys do something about those bodies?” he asked, pointing at the ant corpses that had been left on the surface.

“Gothy, go get replacement medkits for us and check with Jarvis to see if the queen is dead. We’ll loot, then wait for you to get back before splitting it up,” Alvin said as he leaned against her side, kissing her cheek.

“Oh sure, make me the gofer,” Becky said as she started to walk away. Alvin was sure her hips had some extra sway, and after a few steps, she looked over her shoulder to catch everyone not otherwise occupied watching her. Her lips twisted into an evil smirk as she winked at Alvin and continued to walk away.

“God damn,” Milo said with a whistle, “how has she not given you a heart attack yet?”

Alvin snorted, “High Hardiness. Come on Shawn, let’s loot and catalogue what we have.”

“Queen is dead,” Becky announced when she came back. “Decent XP, too,” she added. “What does the loot look like?”

“Mostly trash,” Alvin said, “though two things kind of stand out. A book of knowledge; teaches the person who reads it the basics of mining. The other is a good quality rune of Holding. It’ll add four storage slots to a bag, or two to an item of clothing. The rest of the loot is bits of ant that looks like it could be used to fashion armor, and a common rune of Silence, which dampens the sound of the item it’s equipped to by twenty percent.”

“Now that she’s back, can we split it?” Shawn asked with an exasperated tone.

“She was in the crawl with us, which means she gets a share as well,” Alvin said pedantically, like he’d said it multiple times already.

“Damned right I get my share,” Becky said, raising an eyebrow at Shawn.

“Whatever, you’re obviously a team. I just wanted to get a share for my people who were busy looting the damned drake,” Shawn grumped.

“Give me the runes and you can have everything else,” Alvin said simply.

“But both of those are useful,” Shawn argued.

“Yes, they are, and we’re going to be heading out in a day or three, so we’ll need them more than you guys, all hunkered down here,” Becky argued back.

Shawn’s frown disappeared. “What if I cut you in on a bigger haul? Would you trade this loot for intel and manpower to go after something even bigger?”

Lips pursed, Alvin eyed Shawn for a long moment. “That’s a gamble, isn’t it?”

Shawn tried to keep his face blank while shrugging. “Your call, but I know of a place that has a lot of useful shit just laying around.”

“Gothy? Input?” Alvin asked.

“He hasn’t tried to fuck us yet,” Becky replied bluntly. “Give him some rope. If he hangs himself, then we know where he stands.”

“Really?” Shawn frowned at her. “You think I’m like that?”

“You should be if you want to lead a Settlement,” Alvin answered Shawn’s question. “You’re going to need to be a little ruthless. I’ll agree, for half of whatever you have in mind.”

“No fucking way,” Han interjected from nearby.

“That good, eh?” Alvin chuckled. “Fine, I’ll take thirty percent.”

Shawn shook his head. “Even that is way too far outside—”

“Okay…” Alvin paused as he turned it over in his mind for a moment. “How about this? Whoever goes with gets the Contracted Power. I will lead the expedition, and I get twenty percent of the haul. Everyone else splits thirty percent, and the rest goes straight to your Settlement.”

“That’s too fucking much,” Han snapped, but Shawn held up a hand to cut his brother off.

“I’ll agree to the Contracted part, and the half straight to the Settlement, but you get ten percent and the rest gets split to the others.” Shawn elbowed his brother when Han tried to interject again, “Stay out of it for fuck’s sake, Han.”

Alvin glanced between the brothers, then at Becky, who gave him a small nod. “Deal. Those conditions, and this loot is yours, if you’ll add one more addendum to it?”

Shawn’s lips thinned, “What addendum?”

“I get to pick my ten percent before the rest gets divvied up,” Alvin’s smile was sharp.

“Not a—” Han began again, only to cut off when Shawn spun around and got in his face.

“Why can’t you let me do what Dad put me in charge to do?”

“But he’ll take all the really good stuff,” Han snapped.

“He’ll take ten percent, which can’t be too much of the good stuff. For fuck’s sake! Without them, we wouldn’t have gotten the kids back, wouldn’t have a chance to really survive, or even be getting this haul that we can sell for XP.”

Alvin waited for the brothers to pause before he cut in, “So do we have a deal, Shawn?”

Spinning back around, Shawn held out his hand. “Deal.”

Shaking hands, Alvin pushed the loot they’d collected from the ants toward Shawn. “This is all yours then.”

“Thank you,” Shawn said, pocketing the runes. Holding the book out to Han, he addressed Alvin, “We’ll be starting out tomorrow evening for the place I was talking about.”

“Where is that?” Alvin asked.

“The Hawthorne Army Depot,” Shawn grinned. “Lots of stuff there that’s going to be worthwhile.”

“What do they store there?” Becky asked.

“Depends on which bunker you go to,” Shawn laughed. “Jeeps in crates that just need to be assembled, shit tons of grenades of all kinds, chemical and biological weapons, and tons more. Millhouse worked out there and kept a journal of what places to avoid. Everything else should be worthwhile.”

“Wouldn’t that journal have violated his security clearance?” Alvin asked.

“Probably, but Millhouse was always a bit fuzzy on rules.”

“I kind of get the feeling I might have liked him if he hadn’t been killed by the drake. Aside from the whole shooting me in the face thing, I mean,” Alvin mused.

“We should help the others so we can finish this today,” Han added, sulky at having been told off.

“That’s a good point,” Alvin said. “Jarvis, pull the Mustang around, please.” A moment later, Ruffian came around the drake.

“What the fuck?” Shawn said, looking at the car driving itself in astonishment.

“It was a Power that’s no longer available,” Alvin chuckled.

“I forgot you could do that,” Becky said, her eyes focused on Alvin. “Why did you make me walk all the way over to it if you could have had Jarvis pull it around to us?”

“Because I wouldn’t have gotten to watch you walk away,” Alvin snickered.

“I’m going to make you pay for this later, Hero,” Becky growled at him, the twinkle in her eyes giving away her inner laughter.

“Promises, promises,” Alvin smirked.

“You two done?” Han asked from next to the truck. “We could use some extra hands to help peel the hide back.”

His back to Han, Alvin rolled his eyes and made a face, “Be right there.”

Becky managed to keep her face straight until Han turned away, then laughed silently as she walked toward Alvin. “You are the worst, and I love it.”

“Wait until later, and I’ll show you what ‘the worst’ can really be,” Alvin said as he fell into step with her.

Chapter Five

It was late afternoon when they finished skinning the drake. Milo almost lost a hand when one of the chainsaw blades hit a scale and the blade had snapped. The broken blade had come back over the top of the saw and cut deeply into his hand, leaving it hanging by a few shreds of muscle. Shawn borrowed Jarvis to buy medkits, one to heal his friend and the other to replace the one Han had used, before they had gone back to work. By the end of it, they had broken a couple of other blades, but not in such a spectacular fashion.

Loading the trucks with the hide, scales, and what was left of the claws was taking some time. Alvin and Becky had the best time of it as the blood and gore slid right off their clothing, unlike the others. They were packing the last pieces when Becky called out to the group.

“Incoming. Looks like ravens,” Becky said pointing to the west, where a group of very large birds was flying toward them.

“Back the trucks away from the corpse,” Alvin said, as the ravens approached at speed. “I’ve dealt with them before; they aren’t a danger to us,” he added, watching the others grab their guns. “Just calm down and start heading back to the Settlement.”

Shawn shook his head. “We’ll back up, but if they’re going to be neighbors, I should meet them.”

Milo jumped into Shawn’s ride and pulled it back, while Ivan did the same with Han’s. Han stood next to his brother, watching the approaching birds with a scowl. Alvin shrugged and had Jarvis back the Mustang off as he and Becky waited with the other two.

The flock landed on the far side of the corpse. One of them hopped forward with his wings flapping slightly. “Friend?” it croaked, tilting its head to peer at Alvin.

“Friend. It’s good to see you again, Muninn,” Alvin said.

Shawn’s forehead wrinkled. “Its name is Muninn?”

“Muninn?” The raven said and flapped its wings, “Yes, me is Muninn.”

“We’ve pulled the skin off for you, Muninn,” Alvin grinned at the raven. “This is Shawn Botham. He’s the leader of a group of people close by that way.” Alvin pointed toward Beatty.

“Shawn, friend?” Muninn asked, hopping closer and peering at Shawn.

“Yes, I’m a friend,” Shawn said as he looked up at the large raven. “I’m happy to meet you.”

“Friend, happy… Food?” Muninn asked, looking at the remains of the drake.

“Strip it down,” Shawn nodded. “We’ll come back for the bones later.”

“Food, friend, bye,” Muninn turned away from them and spoke to the other ravens, who nodded and started tearing strips and chunks of meat from the corpse.

“And that is Muninn,” Alvin said as he went to his car. “It might take them a few days, but they should strip it right down to bone for you.”

“Maybe they’ll be okay to deal with,” Shawn muttered as he headed for the trucks. “Let’s head home, we’ve got another trip tomorrow.”

As they drove, Alvin had a question for Jarvis. “So butler, riddle me this: when they sell the stuff off and get the XP, is there any way for them to get us our share easily, or do we have to use the Orb?”

“XP tokens are available for purchase in set amounts, plus a small surcharge. They are tradable, and function as currency at any kiosk or with me,” Jarvis replied.

“Hmm,” Alvin said, turning over the beginnings of an idea in his mind.

The trip back to Beatty was peaceful. Alvin saw what looked like an argument going on when they pulled into the Settlement behind Shawn and Han. The brothers stopped short of the regular parking area, hurrying over to the small crowd gathered around their dad and a group of strangers. Alvin went around them, parking Ruffian before he and Becky got out to see what was going on.

“We should have equal status! It doesn’t matter if you’ve all been here since the start,” The same older guy that had been a dick in Tonopah, Howser, was mouthing off to Wynn.

“This is still my land,” Wynn replied in a cold voice. “If you don’t like the rules, get the fuck off my property.”

“This is a Settlement! You have to let us in. Where else could we go? Anyway, the asshole who came through Tonopah said we had to come here,” Howser sneered.

“Actually, I said that you should go to Ely or Beatty. The world has changed again since then, though. You can go back to Tonopah and have a chance to make it a Settlement now,” Alvin said, cutting into the conversation.

“Either way, I’m the Overseer here and you are not allowed to stay,” Shawn added in a hard voice as he got into the older man’s face.

Pushing Shawn back, Howser’s hand dropped to his pistol, “Look, kid, either you—”

A gunshot echoed and the older man fell dead, the shot blowing out the back of the man’s head and covering those nearby with brains, blood, and bone. Han’s pistol was steady as he looked at the thirty other people who were standing off to the side.

“If anyone else wants to put hands on my family, they’ll get the same damned thing,” Han said into the stunned silence.

“He was being bullied,” a younger girl said, then withered under Han’s glare.

“He was picking a fight,” Han said slowly, “and he got what he deserved. Now either follow the rules, or leave.”

Shawn nodded. “What he said. It’s your choice, but we don’t abide physical violence to others in the Settlement, and we don’t hold to child abuse or rape. Other than that, all we ask is that you help the Settlement grow. We’ll be starting up hunting parties as well. To join those, you need the Contracted Power from the store. There will be a meeting after dinner about something big coming up. If you decide to stay, find an empty room, get a nameplate to mark it, and it’s yours. Until then, help out wherever you can.”

The people from Tonopah exchanged looks, unsure if they should stay or go. George Ueland Jr., the teen from Tonopah, stepped out of the crowd to address Shawn, “I’ll stay. Maybe we can make a Settlement in Tonopah now, but there isn’t anyone left there. It's better to be here and have some help than to try and go it alone… again.”

“Find a room and help out. If you want to really get in on the ground floor, see about buying the Contracted Power at the kiosk, and make sure you’re at dinner,” Shawn said. “If you’re not staying, then head out. We’ll let you use the bathroom and grab some water, but I want anyone who’s not staying gone within the hour.”

Alvin shook his head and went to the trucks to grab a piece of the drake hide. “Might as well check to see what we can get for this since they’re busy.”

Ivan frowned at Alvin as he pulled the smallest piece of hide out of the back, but didn’t say anything or try to stop him. “It's not like he hasn’t earned some of it,” Becky told Ivan.

Han appeared next to the truck. “We’ll drive the trucks over there. We’d hold onto it, but none of us can work it into anything. At least, not yet.”

“We’ll see you over there, then,” Alvin said as he slung the hide over his shoulder and walked past the crowd from Tonopah, who were debating on whether to stay or go.

No one was at the kiosk, thankfully, so he was able to place the small section of hide straight into the lower part of the kiosk. Once it was inside, he turned his attention to the screen.

Drake Hide Piece with Scale

Currently worth 5,000 XP

Would you like to sell this item?

Alvin whistled softly and glanced at Becky. “That is going to be one hell of a haul for the Settlement. Maybe we should contact Ohm and see if he wants to make a deal.”

“For the one at the refinery?” Becky asked. “Why not go back and loot what we can ourselves?”

“Remember the drake between us and Ely?” Alvin asked her as he accepted the XP. “That’s kind of why. It’ll be worse now than it was the first time.”

“Fair point,” Becky mused. “So we’re going to ask him if he wants to go for a split?”

“Pretty much. I’ll start at half and work my way down to twenty percent,” Alvin said as he glanced at the two trucks pulling up to the kiosk. “Might as well let them sell it all and then give us ours after.”

“You already sold it?” Han asked as he got out.

“Yeah, it was worth five thousand XP,” Alvin said. “Take it out of our cut.”

Shawn frowned. “Do you always just do what you want?”

Alvin shook his head. “I wanted to see what the hide would be worth. It shouldn’t be an issue.”

“It just makes you seem like your own party, and not part of the Settlement,” Shawn said.

“We are,” Alvin said simply. “I’m not going to be staying around after the trip, either. We can get the XP from you after dinner, that work?”

Shawn shook his head. “If that’s the way you want it.”

“It's easier that way,” Alvin said as the others began to pull pieces of hide from the trucks. “We’ll try to stop in, but we won’t be staying at any one Settlement. We’ll be on the road, looking for new and interesting things to kill.”

“Not my kind of life,” Shawn said. His eyes went to the kiosk and his jaw dropped open as he looked behind them.

Looking behind them, Alvin and Becky also felt the same shock as they watched one of the bigger pieces of hide, measuring a good eight feet, sliding easily into the square foot area under the kiosk.

“I guess it’s an extradimensional space,” Shawn muttered. Shaking his head, he focused back on Alvin. “I’ll have the XP ready to trade to you after dinner. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“See about getting some other weapons and upgrading them,” Alvin said. “The ant nest made it clear that we need some backups for what we have, as they might degrade faster than I really want.”

“If you want guns, we have a number of them that we can sell for XP,” Shawn offered.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Alvin said. “We’ll see you after dinner, if not at dinner.”

Becky’s smile grew wider at his words. “Probably after.”

“Err…” Alvin paused as he recalled Jarvis’ earlier words. “Actually, Gothy, I can only summon the room once a day. Might be better to hold onto that until after dinner.”

Becky’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. Fuck.”

“Not until after dinner, it seems,” Alvin deadpanned. He looked over at Shawn, who was staring at them. “About those guns—can we see them?”

“That can be arranged,” Shawn said. “Han, take care of the loot while I take them to the armory.”

Alvin and Becky followed as Shawn led them to a smaller building set behind the house. The sound of machinery at work drifted from the open door. Inside, various machines lined the walls, including a reloading press, where Wynn was working.

“Taking them into the armory, anything else you need while I’m there?” Shawn asked his father.

“Pull out my M1,” Wynn said. “I want to see about adding some of the common runes to it.”

“Will do,” Shawn said, leading them to a vault door set against a wall. Blocking the keypad with his body he tapped in a quick code, each button beeping in succession, before the door unlocked with an audible clunk. “Follow me,” Shawn said as he hauled the heavy metal door open.

There was a good selection of guns, though not as many as Wild Bill had. Alvin took a quick tour, noting that each gun was already tagged with its quality. Making a mental note to ask Jarvis about that later, he stopped in front of a submachine gun that looked familiar.

“The Heckler and Koch UMP,” Shawn said from nearby. “Dad wanted to up the caliber to .45 instead of the .40 it uses now, but he hasn’t done it. He’s run quite a few rounds through it, though, so I know it’s a good gun.”

“I was just thinking that putting a suppressor on the end of that, and maybe a couple of other accessories, would make it a damned fine gun,” Alvin said.

“Want to have one in case you need to go quiet?” Shawn asked, trying to get a feel for what Alvin was looking for.

“It was a thought, as well as another rifle to make sure I have a decent backup if we’re away longer than can be helped,” Alvin replied.

“Hero,” Becky said from the other side of the room, “how about the Tommy over here?”

“Kicks like a mule,” he called back. “Unless we up our strength, I wouldn’t want to use it as an everyday.”

“We can probably do that tonight,” Becky pointed out.

“Fair enough, make a note of it,” Alvin said as he turned his attention back to the UMP. “I like the idea of this one as my quiet gun, but will your dad sell it?”

“I’ll ask him,” Shawn said. “Just let me know which ones you want. Most of these are my family’s stuff, but a couple dozen are things we’ve looted.”

“Well the UMP is on that list, might as well add the Tommy also. Do you have any rifles that are scoped for range and can have a suppressor added to them?”

Shawn grinned and walked over to one of the other walls. “These five are what you’re asking for, but two of them are .22 calibers and won’t be worthwhile for what you want. The fifth one isn’t going to be sold; Han won’t get rid of his .50. The other two, though, are possibilities. One is mine and the other is Han’s, both Remington model 700s. They’ve got scopes good for three hundred yards, and they use the Winchester .308, so they have plenty of punch.”

“Add one of them to the list of things I’m interested in,” Alvin said as Becky came over to them. “Anything else catch your eye?” he asked her.

“We’re going to have to go back to wearing the pistols,” Becky said, pointing at the far wall. “I’d want one to match you for the less noisy subguns, so I can have a spray and pray gun too.”

She walked over to the MP5 she’d pointed out and grinned, “This one, please.”

Shawn nodded. “That one is dad’s. He got it from a friend who was in the Navy when they got them, so it’s not a legal weapon—not that the cops will care anymore. It’s the Navy edition of the MP5 that was issued in 1986. Dad even has the stainless steel suppressor for it, as well as a thirty round magazine. You can see the vertical foregrip he added to help mom handle it easier, along with the flashlight on the left side where it’s easy to trigger with your forefinger, and the reflex sight.” Pausing the quasi-sales pitch, he glanced at Alvin. “We don’t have suppressors for the others, though.”

“I’d bet they’re in the store,” Alvin said. “So, two subs aiming for silent, a scoped rifle, which will also need a suppressor, and a Tommy.”

“I’ll talk with dad and we’ll hash out the XP for selling them to you guys,” Shawn said as he grabbed Wynn’s M1.

“Works,” Alvin said as they headed for the door. “I think I’m going to check in with Green River and Ely. We’ll catch up in a few hours for dinner.”

“Okay,” Shawn said as he locked the vault door behind them.

Chapter Six

Getting into the Mustang, Alvin let out a deep breath. “Talk to me, Jarvis. Skip the breakdown, just give me the total, and then I have some questions for you.”

“Very well, sir.” Jarvis coughed politely before continuing, “With the ants, queen, hide, and the ten percent from both miss and Shawn, your total is thirty thousand, two hundred XP.”

Alvin blinked at the total. “That seems like a bit much.”

“The queen was worth five thousand XP by herself,” Jarvis informed him. “You killed roughly one hundred sixty ants in your attack.”

“We didn’t kill—” Alvin began before Becky laughed.

“Did the cave-in kill any ants, and were they added to the total, Jarvis?” Becky asked.

“Indeed, miss, the explosion killed the queen and the resulting cave-in killed most of the rest of the ants.”

“What’s my total?” Becky asked.

“Currently it is twenty-one thousand XP,” Jarvis said. “I would point out, miss, that you no longer receive a discount when buying things. That means your logic, that extra lives cost you less, is incorrect.”

“A very good point,” Alvin said, staring at Becky. “Time to retire that argument, Gothy.”

Glaring at the dash like she wanted to set it on fire, Becky nodded once. “Fine, but no more stupid heroics…” Sighing, she looked at him and her eyes went soft. “I know I call you Hero, but be selfish. For me, okay?”

Stroking her hair once, he smiled as his fingers tangled in it and used it to pull her to him. “I’ll do what I have to, but I’ll always do my best to be safe.” Not giving her time to reply, he kissed her.

Becky purred and leaned into the kiss, her jacket vanishing. Her hands came up and clutched his shirt as he pulled back a fraction, breaking the kiss. “Hero…”

“Tonight, not before,” Alvin told her evenly, though his eyes were alight with his own desire. “I’ll let you play with yourself while I chat with Jarvis, but you aren’t allowed to cum, and you can’t let anyone outside the car guess what you’re doing. Understand, Gothy?”

Panting, Becky let go of his shirt as her pants vanished and her left hand slipped between her legs, “Anything you say, Hero.” Leaning her head back, knowing he was watching her, Becky let her hand begin to caress her folds. The idea that she was being watched by his viewers, and also the idea of trying to hide it from those outside the car, was making her even more wet. “Can I cum just once, please?”

A wicked smile came to his lips. “If no one notices what you're doing, then when I’m done, I’ll give you release.”

“Thank you, Hero,” Becky murmured as her fingers began to walk into just the right spots to get her going.

Tearing his eyes away from his lover, Alvin looked out the windows, keeping an eye on anyone who came nearby. “Jarvis, talk to me about what I can buy to upgrade the guns I hope to have later tonight.”

“Very well, sir. There are a number of runes for guns. I will point out that your current guns are very much nonstandard. Each rank of quality gives the weapon two rune slots, so there are trade-offs to be made. One of the things the developers wanted was to make people choose what they really wanted in the weapon.”

“Once a rune is slotted into a piece of gear, can it be removed?”

“Not at this time,” Jarvis replied.

“Oh, Hero, I’m such a dirty, needy slut,” Becky moaned softly as her hand began moving a bit faster.

Pausing as he tried to ignore the temptress beside him, Alvin coughed and shifted position slightly. “Can you list all of the currently available base runes for guns?”

“Let’s start with the Armor Buster and Bloody runes. The base runes increase armor penetration or damage by a third. Good quality increases the bonus to sixty-six percent, excellent to one hundred percent, master to two hundred, and flawless to three hundred. The runes on your current weapons are excellent quality.”

“Well, that wasn’t exactly what I asked, Jarvis,” Alvin said as a throaty moan came from beside him. “Please just tell me the basic runes and what they do, not what each increase does.”

“Of course,” Jarvis replied, a hint of humor in his voice. “The silence rune can be applied to a weapon, deadening the sound it makes by twenty percent.”

“If a gun has a suppressor and a silence rune, do they both deaden sound?” Alvin asked.

“Yes, sir,” Jarvis said, “which means that a completely silent gun is entirely possible.”

“Holy fuck,” Alvin said as he considered the Type-56 rifle with a maxed out rune of silence. “That might need to be looked at again.”

“They don’t believe anyone will find a Flawless rune for quite some time yet,” Jarvis said. “They only come from sufficiently powerful mini-bosses and legendary creatures.”

“Let’s get back to runes,” Alvin said as a deeper, more guttural moan came from beside him.

“Reloading runes would be next on the list, sir. This is where your weapons are truly different. The base rune will reload a weapon after ten seconds, with that time reduced by each step up the quality ladder.”

“It doesn’t matter what kind of gun?” Alvin asked, thinking of the defensive guns on the walls of Green River.

“The type of gun doesn’t enter into it at all,” Jarvis said. “It would take the same time to reload a heavy machine gun as it would a pistol.”

“That’s good and bad,” Alvin muttered.

“Indeed,” Jarvis agreed, “but there are no plans to change it currently.”

“Wait and see, I guess. It is a game, after all, so changes are going to happen.”

“Please, Hero, please… let me cum,” Becky panted from beside him as her hips rolled in a circle while her fingers vigorously stroked her sex.

Becky’s scent was beginning to fill the car, making it harder for Alvin to concentrate. “Be quieter, Gothy.” Glancing past her, Alvin saw Han waving at them. He waved back with a smirk on his lips. “Maybe I should call someone over…”

“No… please… no,” Becky gasped softly as her hand movement increased. “I want to cum.”

“Okay, then keep it down,” Alvin said, sharply slapping her thigh and earning him a another moan of pleasure.

“Jarvis, are we almost done?” Alvin asked.

“There are the material runes,” Jarvis said. “Silver, Holy, and Steel are currently available. They are only available as common, but completely negate damage reduction against creatures, such as Fey, that have such protections. Without the proper rune, you would essentially be hitting such creatures with a Nerf gun.”

“Fun,” Alvin muttered, as he now had to consider how to make sure they had all their bases covered.

“They can be stacked, sir, so you can have a Steel, Silver, and Holy gun.”

“That seems broken,” Alvin said.

“Not as broken as having an Armor Buster and Bloody weapon, which is also possible,” Jarvis replied.

“Wow, okay then, not mutually exclusive. Got it.”

“Wounding, would be next sir. It adds ten percent of the damage done as a debuff that ticks every two seconds for ten seconds. Follow that with Durability, which adds twenty-five percent durability as a common rune.”

“Wow, that could really keep a weapon around for a while, then.”

“Indeed, sir,” Jarvis said. “The last two are Recoil and Weight; each reduces the associated attribute by ten percent per rune quality.”

“Weight reduction? Really?” Alvin said.

“Consider a mini-gun that weighs half as much, sir. That would make it easier for someone of lesser strength to use it.”

“But if it weighs less, the recoil would be even worse,” Alvin said.

A dry chuckle came from Jarvis, “Well spotted, sir.”

“Okay, so there are a number of choices to pick from,” Alvin said, considering what he might want to upgrade the newer guns with.

“You can also stack runes, sir, currently none are exclusive.”

“I can have four Durability runes on a weapon?” Alvin asked.

“If that is what you choose to do, yes,” Jarvis replied.

“Interesting. So the higher quality runes are good because they take up less space and let you use a better variety of them.”

“That is correct, sir.”

“Hero…” the sheer pleading tone in Becky’s voice made him look at her. Covered in a faint sheen of sweat, her hand had not slowed, “Please.”

Leaning over, he nipped her ear, hard. “Cum.”

With a shuddering gasp, Becky came. Her hips bucked hard against her hand, physically rocking the car in place as a deep moan of pleasure came from her. A pool of liquid formed under her as she slowly calmed back down, a languid smile on her lips. “Thank you, Hero.”

“Now get yourself together again,” Alvin told her as he kissed her ear.

“Of course, Hero,” Becky said softly as she pulled a washcloth from the glovebox and used it to soak up the fluid in her seat before resummoning her clothing. “I’m only partially sated though.”

“Oversexed temptress,” Alvin said as he kissed her ear again. “I’m not done with Jarvis yet, but damn if that wasn’t sexy as hell to watch.”

“Glad I can please you,” Becky said breathlessly as he continued kissing her ear. “If you keep doing that—” she cut off with a disappointed moan as Alvin pulled away.

“Okay, Jarvis, what do the runes cost? And what about the more mechanical things that can be added to the guns, like scopes?”

“They are in the store sir, along with the rail systems needed to add such upgrades to a firearm,” Jarvis said. “The cost varies, but all base runes cost two thousand XP.”

“Okay then. Once I see what the guns are going to cost, I’ll see what’s left to use for runes.”

“I still want you,” Becky commented as she finally seemed to get herself in order. “But I’ll wait as best as I can.”

Chuckling, he leaned back over to her and gently kissed her. “I’ll be sure to up the ante a little tonight, depending on what kind of XP we have left to work with.”

Eyes widening, Becky nodded vigorously. “That sounds amazing.”

“Let’s go inside,” Alvin said as he opened his door. “I’d normally say roll down the window to air the car out, but I like it the way it is right now.”

Becky actually blushed slightly as she opened her door. “Asshole.”

“Let’s go eat and try to act like people,” Alvin said as he got out and shut the door.

“I’d rather act like your property,” Becky said, touching her neck.

“Okay, you are to behave like a lady until we get to our room, that is an order. But I’ll let you do two things that contradict that order, so long as they don’t offend our hosts. So as long as they don’t object, you can be a brat twice.”

Shivering, she leaned against him as he stopped next to her. “Oh, I like this new game we have.”

“I do, too,” Alvin said softly as he gently nipped her ear. “Starting now.”

With a shuddering breath, Becky nodded. “Are you going to tease me during the evening?”

“Probably. After all, you like that, don’t you, Gothy?”

“Yes, Hero. Yes I do.”

Putting his arm around her waist, he began leading her toward the house. “Well, tonight you’re going to have quite a hard time of it. Until we enter our room, you are a lady, despite whatever I do to you. I hope you like some of the toys I have in mind to get later.”

Becky’s mind went around and around wondering what he had in store for her. A slow smile spread across her lips as she let all the delicious ideas percolate in her mind.

Chapter Seven

Alvin and Becky sat off in a corner of the great room shortly before dinner. Alvin idly rubbed Becky’s bare upper back as they sat together on a loveseat. When no one was paying attention, he would tangle a hand in her hair and give it a tug.

Becky quivered each time, and had to bite her lip to not make the sounds she really wanted to make. The one brief moment there wasn’t anyone else in the room, he slapped her sharply across the chest twice, catching both nipples. Becky’s eyes widened and she gasped, and she’d only just managed to regain her composure when Marie poked her head into the room.

“Dinner will be soon,” Marie said, looking around. “Did someone come running through here?”

“Not recently,” Alvin replied. “Do you need an extra set of hands in the kitchen?”

“No, we’ve got it under control,” Marie said. “It’ll be another five minutes. If you want to ring the chime outside so they all know when to come in, that would help.”

Becky shot to her feet. “I’ll take care of it.”

Alvin grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the loveseat. “You should sit. I’ll go take care of the chime, Gothy,” Alvin said, giving Marie a smile. “I’ll take care of it.” Marie returned his smile and went back to the kitchen. Leaning in, he spoke softly to Becky, “I want you to occasionally brush your arms across your chest ‘accidently’ until dinner is served. If anyone comments, you are to stop and act like you don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Yes, Hero,” Becky shivered, her eyes locked on his. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“You were already there,” Alvin grinned, claiming a quick kiss. “It's one of the reasons I love you. Be back soon.”

When he got back to the great room, Becky was chatting with Karee. As he crossed the room toward them, Karee stood up, gave him a wide-eyed look, then bolted down the stairs. Alvin’s lips pursed in surprise and he slowed.

“What was that all about?” Alvin asked as he reclaimed his seat next to Becky.

“Oh, she was asking about my new marking, and why I had it,” Becky said innocently.

“What did you tell her?”

“That it shows that you own me, body, mind, and soul, and that was something I’ve always wanted,” Becky fluttered her lashes at him. “Did I do anything wrong?”

“Ohhhh, you little vixen,” Alvin said as he admired her poise in acting innocent. “That is one, yes.”

Becky giggled, “All I did was honestly answer her question, though. Why does that count as one of my two brattings? Shouldn’t I answer questions honestly?”

“Would a lady be explaining BDSM to a teen?”

“She’s only a couple of years younger than me,” Becky replied. “It’s more helping a contemporary than corrupting a youth.”

Alvin couldn’t stop the snicker that bubbled up, “Really? Well, I say it's still one of two.”

Bowing her head, her words were soft, “As you wish, Hero.”

Shawn came up the stairs into the room. “Didn’t expect to see you sitting up here.”

“We’re hungry, and ready for dinner,” Becky said with a small smile.

“I heard the chime, so we can head in. The others…” he trailed off as everyone who had been in the yard started filing in. “Looks like it’s time for dinner.”

Alvin put his hand on Becky’s thigh, keeping her in place as everyone went past them. The last ones in the door were Placido and Wynn, who were talking about irrigation and only barely noticing their surroundings. “We can easily do it, is all I’m saying. It would keep all the fields watered,” Placido said, then spotted Alvin and Becky still sitting in the great room. “Waiting on us?”

“We’re just being a little lazy, we had a busy day,” Alvin said as he got to his feet and extended his hand to Becky.

“Giant ants, Han was telling me, used up all the dynamite he took with you guys, and my special mixture,” Wynn chuckled. “Left a thirty-foot sinkhole and a dead queen.”

“Hero was almost buried in that,” Becky said unhappily.

“He made it out,” Wynn replied. “As long as everyone makes it home, it’s a victory.”

“Let’s not keep the others waiting,” Placido said, motioning toward the dining room.

The four of them were the last ones into the room. Wynn and Placido took their seats next to their wives at the biggest table, which left two open seats at the same table for Alvin and Becky. Once they were all seated, lids were pulled off the dishes on each table. Tonight, it was simple food—hot dogs and hamburgers.

There were murmurs of surprise and even some disappointment. Marie spoke up loudly enough to be heard through the room, “This is what we already had planned before last night’s changes, and I won’t see perfectly good food wasted. If you don’t like it, then don’t eat. We’ll start using the new food tomorrow.”

No one moved to leave, and the muttering died away. Shaking his head, Alvin helped himself to a couple of hot dogs and a burger. Waiting for the ketchup to come his way, he felt Becky’s thigh touch his. Glancing at her, he noticed that she’d moved her chair closer to him. He couldn’t help smirking a little as he waited for her next move, but she didn’t do anything but hand him the ketchup after she had used it for her own food.

“Thank you, Gothy.”

“Anything for you, Hero.” She made sure he noticed the drop of ketchup on the tip of her finger, her lips barely hiding the edge of her grin. “Seems I was a little less than perfect with that.” Raising her finger up a little, she kept eye contact with him as she wiped her finger across the bun for the burger. “There, all better.”

Tongue in cheek, Alvin shook his head. He’d been sure she was going to lick it off her finger, but she played him and hadn’t bratted. He slathered his own burger and dogs in ketchup and passed the bottle to Karee, on his right.

“Thank you… Hero,” Karee said, clearly trying to match Becky’s tone.

Eyebrow raising, he frowned at her. “No problem. But I’m only one person’s Hero.”

“I’m pretty sure others will want you to be their Hero as well,” Becky said from his other side, dragging his attention back to her. “It’s only natural when you save them.” A smear of ketchup next to her lips caught Alvin’s attention. Seeing him watching, she used her thumb to wipe it off and put it onto the bun. “It’s human nature, after all. Women like a strong man who can protect them.”

A terrible thought occurred to him as he caught a glimmer of amusement in Becky’s eyes. “Did your conversation earlier have more to it than just what you told me about?”

Becky took another bite of her hamburger, grinning widely. Silently, she shrugged while laughter sparkled in her eyes. Taking a bite of his own, Alvin shook his head. He should have known when she hadn’t objected more vigorously to him calling it one of her two passes earlier.

Alvin spent the first part of dinner waiting for Becky to make her move, and was completely surprised when it wasn’t her, but Karee, who put a hand on his upper thigh. Almost choking at the unexpected contact, Alvin slowly turned his head to the teen, only to find her talking with Han on her other side.

Seeing his obvious distraction, Becky put her right hand over his left where it rested on the table. “Good food, isn’t it, Hero? Just don’t want to put it down, do you?” Becky said with false innocence as she used her other hand to take a bite of her burger.

Taking a breath, Alvin gave her a small nod of understanding. “Simple, but good. But sometimes one needs to let the meal sit so you can savor it a bit more.” Setting his food down, Alvin was about to slip his right hand down to pull Karee’s hand off his thigh where it had been slowly inching higher.

“Did you need more water?” Karee asked, turning to face him with a bright smile. Lifting the pitcher on the table, she refilled his cup. “Got to stay hydrated in the desert.”

Feeling people’s eyes on him, Alvin gave her a tight smile and picked up the cup instead. “Of course.”

Taking a swallow, he wasn’t surprised when the questing hand found the prize it had been seeking. He did use that moment to act like the water had gone down the wrong pipe, setting the cup down suddenly and swatting surreptitiously at her hand in his lap. The cup fell over, sending a flood of water across and off the table, drenching Karee.

“Gah!” Karee screamed, pushing back from the table. Her left hand was noticeably reddened as she held her hands out in shock at the unexpected drenching.

“Hero?” Becky asked with a hint of concern to her voice.

Coughing loudly a few more times, Alvin caught the flat look Becky was giving him. “I’ll be fine… wrong pipe was all. Sorry about that.”

“Are you okay, Karee?” Han asked, as Karee rubbed her hand and glared at Alvin.

“Huh? Yeah, just hit my hand on the table when he spilled his water. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Marie got up and bustled into the kitchen, returning with a rag to mop it up. “At least it was only water.”

“Yeah, it could have been bad if it had been anything sticky,” Becky said in agreement as she patted Alvin’s back. “We’re lucky on that count.”

“Things could have been much worse,” Alvin agreed as he let his coughing subside. “Thank you for the help, Gothy.”

“Always, Hero,” Becky smiled, her eyes laughing as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I’m sure that surprise was the last for tonight…”

Alvin felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. “It had better be.”

Giving him an overly sweet smile, Becky picked her burger back up. “One never knows.”

Leaning toward her, he spoke very softly. “That’s two.”

She only nodded a tiny bit as she ate her burger with a broad smile. Once Karee was back in her seat, she behaved for the rest of the meal, as did Becky.

Shawn cleared his throat when he was finished eating. “Meeting in the great room in ten minutes.”

Those who were also finished stacked their plates and followed Shawn to the main room. Becky finished before Alvin, but waited for him. Karee finished quickly and left the table, with Han following, insisting on checking her hand.

Almost everyone else was done eating before Alvin, who was taking his time. Marie and Laurel began to pick up the plates. “Ladies, do you need help?” Alvin asked, standing up.

“We have it,” Laurel said with a pleasant smile. “You should probably head to the meeting. We’ll be along once we get these in the kitchen.”

Looking at Becky, who was still seated, Alvin grinned. “Why don’t you help them, Gothy? Then you can come join us at the meeting.”

Looking up at him, her eyes sparkled with evil intent. “If that is what you wish me to do, Hero.”

“Nonsense,” Marie said. “We have this, and you’ll both be needed there. Go on and let us older ladies take care of the dishes.”

“You heard them, Hero,” Becky said, getting to her feet and taking his hand. “Shall we leave them to it, and go see what Shawn has to say?”

“Have a pleasant night, Marie, Laurel,” Alvin said as he led Becky away.

In the great room, it was standing room only, except for a single seat next to Karee, who waved at them. “Gothy… I saved it for you.”

Alvin leaned in and spoke softly to Becky. “You still have something planned, don’t you?”

Becky let go of his hand with a bright false smile. “Me? I’m going to sit with my new friend. You don’t mind, do you, Hero?” She asked the last part with a grin as she put him on the spot.

“Of course not, but play nice,” Alvin said.

“I always play nice,” Becky giggled as she swayed across the room, earning a lot of appreciative glances.

“Okay,” Shawn said, breaking the moment, “we have something big to talk about. Today, we went out to strip the drake that killed our friends. We pulled the hide, scales, claws, and teeth from it. Since the skill needed to use those for crafting isn’t in the store—and won’t be for some time, from what I gather—we sold all of it to the store. That netted the Settlement a lot of XP, some of which went to the people who did the work. The rest is going to be used for the project that we’re here to discuss.”

Several people demanded to know why they hadn’t been asked to go, while others tried asking a number of other questions. Shawn let them talk for a minute before whistling sharply to silence them. “Let me continue, and anyone who really wants to will have a chance to go out. First, you need to understand what it means to go on one of these trips.”

Once everyone settled down again, Shawn continued, “Shortly after we got to the corpse and started using chainsaws to cut the hide off, we were attacked by giant ants. Each of them took between four and seven shots to kill. Han encountered them first, and his hand got shredded. Luckily, there was a medkit on hand to fix him up. Then, the soldiers started showing up. They were fast, strong, and fearless. Imagine an ant the size of a dog and with mandibles the size of your forearms coming at you.”

Another round of talk started up at his description. Shawn let them go for a minute, then whistled again. “Okay, you get the idea. With any ant nest, there is a queen. I went into the nest with Alvin and Becky to see if we could do anything about her. She was over eight feet in length and sitting in a thirty-foot room, literally covered with her workers and using them as a living shield. It wound up taking explosives to blow up her and her chamber. For the three of us, that was good XP, but none of the others above ground got any.”

More angry mutters started, from most of the same people who’d objected at not going on the trip. They cut off as Shawn brought his fingers up to his mouth again. “You have to be in a group to get XP from kills. To form a group, someone has to have the Leader Power, and everyone else has to have the Contracted Power. The Leader and the Contracted hash out whatever agreement they want, then the Contracted gets a tattoo showing them to be part of the team. It usually seems to be a simple wrist mark, or, if you go overboard, you apparently get a collar.”

All eyes went to Becky, who sat up straight and let everyone get a good look at her neck. “I didn’t go overboard. I just pledged my mind, body, and soul to him, for as long as he will have me. It’s very much like a marriage vow.”

Everyone turned to look at Alvin, who gave back a flat stare. “Problems?”

“Not done yet,” Shawn said after a moment. “Cutting the hide off the drake chewed through six chainsaw blades, and badly injured Milo. He was healed with a medkit, and I’ve bought replacements from the store already for the blades as well as a supply of medkits. I can see we’re going to need those. As we were packing up, a flock of ravens showed up. Giant ravens, think Lord of the Rings eagles, probably big enough to carry someone. We talked, and they seem like they’re going to be friendly. Yes, they speak English as well as many of you.” This got a chuckle from most of the people in the room. “They want the meat and fat off the drake, and we’ll go pick up the bones later.”

The hubbub from the crowd at the mention of giant ravens again forced Shawn to pause. His whistle was piercingly loud. “Knock it the fuck off until I’m done, damn it.” Everyone shut up immediately, a few holding their ears. “Thank you. As I was saying, don’t shoot at any ravens unless they attack you. They know we’re here, and they consider us friends. Don’t freak out over how big they are.

“Now, all of this is background for the next part, and we will be taking volunteers for it. We’re going to convoy north to hit a place with a bunch of things we can find a use for. To go, you’re going to need the Contracted Power. For those that go with us, the Settlement will pay for the Power, but you will be added to the hunting teams we’ll be starting up when we return. That means that you won’t be staying safe inside the walls every day, so choose wisely. Al is going to be the Leader of the expedition, and I will be his second in command.”

This sparked another round of chatter as all eyes went to Alvin for a moment. Shawn cleared his throat loudly and everyone went silent again. “I doubt we’ll get the same haul of XP from where we’re going next, but in case you’re wondering roughly what we’re looking at, after cutting in Alvin, who told me that the drake would be worth stuff, the Settlement made about a hundred thousand XP. I think that’s a really low value, but it’s what we got. With the ants we killed, I made another eighteen thousand XP.”

Shawn had to wait while everyone started talking again. After a couple of minutes, he whistled again to bring them back on topic. “Contracted only costs a thousand XP, so we have the XP needed to let most of you get it, if you want. But again, it means you will be used for hunting parties, as looting the mobs is important. The ants netted a number of parts from them that might be useful for armor or weapons, if we knew how to craft the materials, and we also got some runes, including one of a higher quality than the base runes in the store. The loot the hunting parties get will be theirs to keep and distribute as they see fit. The Settlement will be putting a small tax on all XP earned so we can upgrade what we can for all of us. There will be a tax or cost for everything, as anyone who does a job gets XP. This means if you’re not a hunter, you will still make some, but not as much. The trade off is that hunters risk death every time they go outside the walls.”

Silence greeted that reminder. “That’s it for tonight. If you want to go on our raid to the north, talk to me or Han. We’ll be getting basic armor and weapons together for the trip. Maximum of thirty, we don’t want to leave the Settlement undefended. Children and pregnant women will not be allowed to go, otherwise, it’s up to you.” Looking at Alvin, Shawn motioned with his head, “If I can see you for a few minutes?”

Following Shawn outside, Alvin frowned when Becky didn’t come with him. A small sense of loss pinged in his chest. Blinking at the unfamiliar feeling, he roughly pushed it aside to focus on Shawn.

“Is it just XP exchange, or have you worked out the price for the guns, too?” Alvin asked brusquely.

“Both,” Shawn said, pointing to the exchange orb off to the side of the building. “Let’s exchange the XP first, then we can talk about the guns.”

Once they both had their hands on the orb, Shawn toggled the XP exchange. “That’s impressive,” Alvin said, “A hundred and forty-six thousand XP for the drake parts.”

“The scales were worth the most. The skin, not as much, and the few claws we sold were between the two of them. That is yours and Gothy’s split.” Shawn pulled his hands off the orb once Alvin accepted the XP. “As for the guns, we don’t have suppressors for them, but we’ll sell them. Dad said to have you give me the XP for his guns. Han will get his XP for the Tommy from me later, too. All four will run forty thousand XP.”

Alvin chuckled, “Checked the store, did you?”

“Of course,” Shawn shrugged, “it made sense.”

“That’s still less than I would pay in the store and the MP5 comes with bells and whistles, at least.”

“So does the 700,” Shawn added. “I’m leaving the 10x40 scope, the bipod, and the sling, along with the ten round mag. I also had dad put a vertical foregrip, reflex sight, and light on the UMP, figured you might want those to make handling it easier. Since you said that you’re going to suppress them, he made sure they were ready for the suppressors to be added, too.”

“I’ll call it a deal, then,” Alvin said, putting his hands back on the orb. “Do you have them on you?”

“In my bag,” Shawn said, tapping the fanny pack that Alvin had missed seeing.

Alvin set up the XP exchange, then secured the guns in his backpack. “How many do you think will go with us?” Alvin asked as he zipped the bag closed and shouldered it.

“Maybe twenty,” Shawn replied. “If it was a one time thing, then maybe thirty or more, but adding them to hunting teams afterward will dissuade some of them.”

“Will twenty be enough?” Alvin asked.

“I know five of them that can drive big rigs,” Shawn said, “and we have eight parked down the road. If we take five, it gives us a lot of room to haul loot back.”

“Barring issues with wildlife and who knows what else,” Alvin added.

The front door opened and a handful of guys came over to them. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to talk to Shawn about tomorrow.”

“Have fun,” Alvin chuckled as he walked away from the group.

Making a stop at the kiosk, he purchased the runes that he’d discussed with Becky for the weapons. Dropping the runes into his bag, Alvin finally went looking for Becky, who hadn’t shown up the entire time he had been talking with Shawn. His XP gains had dwindled to 70,000, down from the 146,000 XP Shawn had given him. That was still plenty for what he wanted to do tonight.

Chapter Eight

Walking back into the house, he found Karee and Han arguing. Stopping just inside the door, he saw Becky standing behind Karee and wondered what he’d missed.

“No. You will not be allowed to go,” Han’s voice was soft, but had an unbending quality to it.

“I’m old enough to make my own damned choices,” Karee snapped at him. “You’re not my fucking father and you never will be!” Karee stormed past Han and down the stairs.

“Sixteen is old enough now, don’t you think?” Becky asked in the waspish tone she’d used when Alvin first met her at the school.

“This isn’t your concern,” Han told Becky firmly. “Millhouse wouldn’t have wanted her risking her life like this.”

“That doesn’t mesh with the stories we’ve heard about him,” Alvin said from the doorway. “Wasn’t there a story during his memorial about how he first taught her how to shoot at the age of six?”

“That’s different,” Han replied. “You’re both outsiders and should stay out of family business.”

“Fair enough,” Alvin said as he walked over to stand beside Becky. “We won’t take a side about what she can or can’t do.”

“Hero—” Becky began, but he cut her off with a hard slap on the ass.

“I said we won’t, and we won’t, Gothy,” he said firmly, his eyes locked on Han. “That good enough for you?”

“Yes,” Han said before walking out the front door.

“Hero—” Becky tried again, but cut off when Alvin met her eyes.

“Leave it,” Alvin said firmly, pointing toward the stairs. “Time to turn in for the night.”

Jaw set, Becky breathed heavily through her nose and stormed off, much like Karee had a minute before. Alvin rolled his eyes as he followed her. She had obviously not caught his meaning.

Becky was walking toward the room they had used before when Alvin called her to stop. “Gothy, wait.”

Glaring back at him, she faltered as she saw that he’d stopped before a different door. “That one’s taken,” she said.

Alvin knocked on the door, and a familiar voice told him to go away. “I want to talk for a moment, please, open the door,” Alvin said in reply.

Becky went back and read the nameplate, proclaiming it to be Karee’s room. “Why are we stopping here?”

Alvin knocked again, only to have the door yanked open as he was knocking. He paused, looking into the red eyes of a sniffling teen as she stared back at him. “Can we talk to you for a moment?”

Stepping aside, she waited for them to enter and shut the door behind them. “What?”

“We had a talk with Han after you left,” Alvin said, holding up a hand to forestall her protests. “I told him we wouldn’t take sides on what you can or can’t do. However, I didn’t tell him we would do nothing.” A small, evil smile came to his lips. “He refused to buy you the Contracted Power, right?”

Karee was still sniffling, but she was puzzled. Becky took Alvin’s arm. “Hero… I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it that way, and—”

Alvin bopped her on the nose, cutting her off. “Shh. You’ll pay for it later. As well as setting up her play at me during dinner. I know you had a hand in that.”

Looking away, Becky’s lips twitched. “Maybe…”

“That’s right,” Karee was focused on him, “and I don’t have enough XP of my own to buy it.”

“Gothy will transfer the XP you need to you tonight,” Alvin said. Glancing at Becky, he raised an eyebrow. “That’s one of the ways you’ll make up for your attitude from a few minutes ago. In fact, run out to the Mustang and buy one of the XP tokens with enough for her to purchase the Power. Some time after we leave your room, Karee, go out to the Mustang. There will be a pad that you can use to buy the Power. Just wait until everyone is asleep so Han can’t stop you. Okay?”

Karee’s lips trembled. “You mean it?”

“Yes, as long as you don’t try to get me killed by playing with my dick at dinner again,” Alvin told her levelly, before letting a small smile cross his lips.

“Deal,” Karee said, then leapt at him, her arms wrapping around his waist. “Thank you. I know you said we don’t matter, but this means so much to me.”

Becky snickered, “Maybe it's just the cute ones that think you’re a hero, Hero.”

“Go get her the token for the XP,” Alvin told Becky. “I’ll be waiting.”

Letting go of him, Karee spun to Becky. “I need three thousand, four hundred and twenty-five XP. I wound up with a stupid negative balance this morning when the world changed again.”

Stepping away from the emotionally charged teen, Alvin leaned against the wall by the door. “You heard her, chop chop.”

Becky gave him a searching look for a moment before opening the door. “Sharing is caring?”

“I’m not going to do anything. Han would shoot me for it,” Alvin told her. “While I have no issue with fucking the shit out of her, it isn’t the smartest action right now.”

“Okay,” Becky left the room with a backward glance at Karee. “He said no.”

An awkward silence settled over the room as Alvin and Karee just looked at each other. “If Han wasn’t an issue…” Karee began, before trailing off.

“You’re sixteen, which is old enough as far as I’m concerned,” Alvin told her, taking a moment to really look over the teen. She was much thinner than Becky, but had some muscle on her lanky frame. She was busty, but not as much as Becky. “Besides, Gothy likes breaking the thin ones, and I’m curious what that’s going to be like. Sadly though, even if Han wasn’t an issue, tonight I have plans with Gothy.”

Karee nodded. “I mean you’re not really good looking, and you’re an asshole… but Gothy is right, there’s just something about you…”

“Down, girl,” Alvin said firmly as Karee took a step toward him. “Not going to happen, not tonight—and if you press it, not ever.”

Karee stopped in mid stride and backed up a step. Licking her lips, she walked backwards to her bed and sat down. “Oh, that was a nice sound. Very commanding. I’ll wait for Gothy, like a good girl.”

“Maybe I just attract the broken ones,” Alvin mumbled as they waited for Becky to return.

Becky returned a few minutes later with a plastic card. “It gives you options for what you want the XP token to look like. I picked the cheapest,” she flung it across the room like a frisbee, landing it on the bed next to Karee. “So…” Becky trailed off as she glanced from one to the other.

“No, tonight is all you. And again, I want this Settlement to like us enough that we can come back,” Alvin told her as he nodded toward the still open door. “We have plans. Well, technically, I have plans.” Looking back at Karee, who was holding the card in her hands, Alvin coughed to get her attention. “Wait for everyone to be asleep, then use the Mustang, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Karee said watching him leave. “See you in the morning. Give him hell, Gothy.”

Closing the door, Alvin sighed, “Are you encouraging her?”

“A little… I thought that if we shared, it would be okay. She knows she would be second to me,” Becky said.

Shaking his head, Alvin pointed down the hall. “Go find us a room. We’ll discuss who might be worth the trouble of adding in later. Tonight, though, is going to be an adventure for you, and some for me.”

“An adventure?” Becky asked, her tongue poking out just a bit between her lips.

“Go, now,” Alvin said firmly.

Head rising, Becky touched her throat. “Yes, Hero, as you command.”

Alvin watched her hips sway and imagined what he had planned for her as he walked along behind her. When she came to a stop before a door, he toggled the button and changed the closed door into a glowing doorway.

“Oh, that’s different,” Becky said as she stepped into the glow.

“It certainly is,” Alvin agreed as he stepped in after her. Looking around, he saw a glowing doorway taking up part of a wall in their room. “First things first, Gothy. You are to strip and get clean. Once the shower is over, you are to sit in the tub and wait for me to come for you, and you’re not allowed to pleasure yourself.”

“As you wish, Hero,” Becky said as her clothing vanished. Walking toward the bathroom, she stripped off her undergarments, leaving them in a trail behind her. “Make sure to follow the path I leave for you…”

“Jarvis, a pad, please,” Alvin said, taking the glowing pad from the air a moment later. He fiddled with the pad, taking his time and making sure he had everything ready for what he had planned. Becky said she wanted him to control her, and he was going to see how much controlling she really wanted. Finishing, he dropped the pad. He was a little shocked at the cost, but most of that was from adding an extra room to the base.

Letting his clothing vanish, he stripped off his underwear and headed for the bathroom. Stopping in the doorway, he found Becky rocking her body against the side of the tub, eyes closed, face twisted in pleasure as she used the water jets to help pleasure herself since she wasn’t allowed to.

Her small moans started to rise in pitch as she got closer to orgasm. “You’re not allowed to cum,” Alvin said.

Eyes flying open, she saw him staring at her. Opening her mouth in protest, she whimpered as her collar stopped her from cresting. “Hero…” Becky panted, her eyes filled with lust. “So mean…”

“I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Alvin grinned at her. “Don’t move. Stay right there until I’m done.”

Shaking slightly, her lips trembled. “Oh… so evil… mmmmm. Don’t keep me waiting, please.”

“Maybe,” Alvin chuckled darkly as he strolled into the shower.

He didn’t linger, but didn’t hurry either. When he stepped out of the shower, Becky was panting heavily as her body rocked in place against the water jet. “Having fun?”

“Please, Hero,” the words were a strangled whisper, as her body was on the edge of orgasm, but not allowed to crest.

“Get out of the tub and come here,” Alvin said as he grabbed the bath blanket from the railing and quickly dried off. It took Becky a moment to be able to get her legs to hold her, but she did make it to him. “You look desperate,” Alvin chuckled as he wrapped the towel around her and began drying her off, starting at the legs and working up. When he got to her chest, he made sure he roughly dried her breasts, earning more moans of pleasure and disappointment. Leaning in, he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her. “Cum for me, Gothy,” and nipped her ear.

As if a dam had been demolished, her legs gave way and Alvin gently eased her to her knees as she finally achieved what had been denied her. There were no words as Becky shuddered in his arms, but she was clearly having an orgasmic moment.

Her breathing evened out after a few moments. “You’re so mean to me, Hero.”

“You don’t even know what that means, Gothy,” Alvin murmured into her ear and nipped it again. “Dry off, then close your eyes.”

A small intake of breath, accompanied by a tilt of her head, gave away the contract forcing her to comply. Getting to her feet with a small wobble, Becky watched him as she dried off. “You have more planned for me?”

“A lot more,” Alvin said as he walked out of the room. He came back a moment later with one hand behind his back. Becky was standing with her eyes closed and the towel around her feet when he entered. “If you brat even a little, I’ll stop everything. Understood?”

“Yes,” Becky whispered as she felt a blindfold cover her eyes.

Once that was ready, he took her hand and led her out of the bathroom into the new room he’d purchased. Leading her to the first piece of equipment he’d bought, he stopped her just short of it. “If you ask me to stop, everything will instantly stop. There is no throttle for you, though, it’s either all or nothing, understand? I’ll just stop and go on to the next thing. If you want it all to stop, just say ‘mercy.’ Understand?”

“Yes?” Becky said, but her voice had a touch of hesitancy.

Taking her wrist, he attached a silk-lined heavy leather cuff to it. “I’ll show you the surprise after we’re done for the night.”

Becky’s breathing started to quicken as she felt the cuff going on. When Alvin started to attach the second one, she licked her lips. “Hero?”

“Yes?”

“I feel a little anxious… but I also want this so badly.”

“Good,” Alvin said as he walked around her, letting his hand trail over her body. “I’m going to test you tonight. I’ll start slow, but we’ll keep going until you can’t take any more. We both need to know where your limits are. This is your chance to tell me what your hard limits are.”

“I don’t know,” she replied instantly and honestly. “I’ve been cuffed before, and spanked and stuff, but you’re going to go further than that, aren’t you?”

“As far as you can take,” Alvin said softly, his mouth right next to her ear. “Are you ready to begin, my gothic temptress?”

A shudder ran through her. She swallowed hard and nodded. “As ready as I can be, Hero.”

Gathering her hair in his hand, he gently tugged her forward until her hips came to rest against the padded bar before her. Leaning her over, he got her into position, then attached her cuffs to the anchor points. “Then let us begin,” Alvin said as he stood up and collected the first instrument: a simple leather paddle.

The first spank was just hard enough for the impact to make her ass shake. Nodding, Alvin switched to the other cheek for the next spank. Taking his time, he alternated sides, letting the strength of each blow increase by the smallest of increments as he made sure to include the whole of her rump and upper thighs. Pausing for a second here and there, he would run his hand over her slowly reddening ass before continuing.

After what seemed like an age to Becky, she finally called out for him to stop. Her body was shaking with the need for release, but also a touch of fear, as she was unsure if he would do as he’d said. When the next strike didn’t come, she gasped in relief.

Kneeling, he kissed her cheek. “Okay?”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t stop,” she told him.

“Silly Gothy. I want to test you, not break you. I’m going to move on to the next part, but did you want a little release first?”

“Oh, gods, yes,” she breathed.

Sliding under her bent form, he began to lavish her nipples with licks and small nibbles, making her buck against the restraints. “Cum when you can,” he said, before going back to his assault on her pierced nipples.

It wasn’t long before she came again, her fluids beginning to drip down her legs as she shuddered in place. Sliding out from under her, he nipped her ear before standing up. “Now, on to the floggers.”

He followed the same pattern as he had with the spanking, except this time he allowed softer strikes to fall on her back. When he got to the firmer strokes, he occasionally landed a softer blow or two to her back between the harder ones.

Ass glowing a nice deep shade of pink, Becky was bucking her hips into each strike by the time she cried out for him to stop. Not pausing, he stepped behind her and sank himself fully into her drenched pussy. That single thrust was enough for her to cry out again as she came. Alvin held still, allowing her to cum around his cock. Once she began to regain her breath, he pulled out of her.

Stepping around to the front, he gathered her hair to get it out of the way before pushing his slick cock into her open mouth. A muffled moan was Becky’s only reply, as she eagerly took him and did her best to clean her juices off his rigid flesh.

Pulling back long before she could push him over the edge, Alvin let out a soft sigh, covered by Becky’s loud groan of disappointment. “We’re far from done yet,” he told her as he knelt and unbuckled the restraints.

Alvin led her to the heavy metal frame that was waiting for her. Attaching her wrists near the top corners, he put ankle cuffs on her then spread her legs and attached those to the frame as well, leaving her standing spread-eagled. Taking a quick walk around her, he smiled. “And now we up the ante a little. Crops, whips, and a few other toys. Ready?”

“Oh gods,” Becky moaned as she gave the restraints a brief test. “Please, Hero, use me.”

“Maybe after all the tests are over,” Alvin whispered to her. “Let’s start with the crop.”

He continued testing her with new and different things until she asked for each to end. She was covered in red marks, welts, and a few bruises by the time he finished his tests, but she hadn’t called for mercy the entire time. Carefully unclipping her restraints, Alvin eased her to the ground, as Becky was in a daze.

Removing the cuffs from her, he covered her in light kisses as he worked, praising her as he did. Once she was free of everything, he picked her up with a grunt and carried her back to the bedroom. Laying her on the bed, he crawled in next to her.

“Hero?” Becky murmured as she rolled onto her side, arms moving jerkily as she reached for him.

Wrapping her in his arms from behind, Alvin kissed the back of her neck. “Right here, Gothy.”

“Thank you,” the two words were mostly mush as she said them.

“Thank you,” he replied as she started to snore. “You really are broken, my crazy little goth. I bet you’ll need to talk in the morning.”

Her snoring was the only response. Shaking his head, he pulled the covers over them. “Jarvis, turn off the lights, please.”

“Goodnight, sir,” Jarvis said as the lights went out.

Chapter Nine

Dreams of Becky and Karee in the new playroom slowly broke apart as he began to wake. The last image lingered, though; Becky standing behind the teen, forcing Karee to suck his stiff cock as Becky guided her head. “You take it and make sure he likes it—you’re our little plaything, understand?” Becky was commanding as the dream finally broke into fragments.

The sensation of an eager mouth on his engorged dick didn’t stop. Lifting his head, he found Becky eagerly bobbing her head up and down his shaft, not even noticing that he was awake. Watching her, he felt a moment of worry. She was too perfect, she had taken everything he’d given her last night and asked for more until she reached her limits, and now here she was the next morning, bringing him ever closer to ecstasy.

Unable to stop himself, Alvin’s hips bucked up into her mouth. Blinking, Becky looked up through her lashes, a smile tweaking up the corners of her lips around his cock. Seeing him awake and enthralled, she began to increase her speed and suction.

Reaching down to grab her head, Alvin was surprised when Becky grabbed his wrists. “Do you need a little control right now?” Alvin asked as she pinned his wrists to the bed.

Stopping, she locked eyes with him and gave two short, quick bobs of her head before taking him all the way to the base. Dropping his head back to the pillows, Alvin let her have her way, as she was doing something he was enjoying.

As soon as he surrendered to her, Becky slowed her pace and began to lavish his cock with attention. The next hour, or at least that’s what it seemed like to Alvin, was one of being worshipped by a very willing woman. Eventually, her attentions pushed him to the edge. Jerking his hands, he got his right one free of her grasp.

Growling, Becky looked up with angry eyes as she deepthroated him. Shaking as she pushed him over the edge, his hand fell limply to the bed as he began filling her mouth with cum. Grabbing his right hand back, she squeezed firmly, making sure he realized she’d recaptured it. When he finally got some blood back to his brain, he realized he was restrained again as Becky ever so slowly cleaned her way up his shaft.

“Are you done now?” Alvin asked, a small shiver running through him as she continued cleaning him.

With a small pop, she released his slowly flagging member from her mouth. “You pulled away from me,” Becky pouted.

“Yeah, it's difficult for me not to want to control you,” Alvin said as he gave his pinned wrists a gentle tug. “I do the best I can, though.”

“If I had a plaything of my own, I wouldn’t demand this of you,” Becky said as she nipped his thigh.

“Well, it isn’t going to be Karee, so let that idea go,” Alvin told her.

Bottom lip sticking out, Becky fluttered her lashes at him. “I promise to take her for walks and everything.”

Laughter erupted from Alvin at her big, soulful eyes and pouty lips. “Oh gods, that is too much.”

“Pleeeeeease,” Becky said, fluttering her lashes more.

It took a moment for Alvin to gain control of his laughter. “We’ll see about getting you someone, but not her. We need the Settlement on good terms with us. Wynn has a whole shop dedicated to gun maintenance, which we’ll need access to.”

Letting go of his wrists, Becky got out of bed. “I can’t disagree, but she approached me and has been eager to prove herself.”

Following her out of bed, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest from behind. “Noted, but unless something drastic changes, then no, she isn’t going to be joining us.”

“I understand, Hero,” Becky said as she leaned into his embrace. “I even agree with you, but damn if she isn’t tasty looking.”

“That I can agree to, but I like my women a little more full-bodied,” he let his hands wander over her body for a moment. “Curvy girls are the best.”

“What are we doing today before leaving?” Becky asked, grinding her ass back against his pelvis.

Taking one of her glorious breasts in hand, he pinched the nipple. “Well, first we need to clean up. Then we’ll talk about upgrades, and maybe I’ll show you the room you were being tortured in last night.”

“You used it all… didn’t you?” Becky asked, letting out a small gasp as he flicked her hoop.

“Oh, no. Some of the toys in there are for punishing bad girls, not playing with good ones,” Alvin chuckled. Lowering his head, he trailed kisses from her collar bone to her earlobe. “I doubt you’ll enjoy the ones for bad girls.”

“Shower first, you said,” Becky began to breathe faster and tried to take a step, only to be pulled back to his chest. “Hero.”

“I’ll lead this dance,” Alvin said, leading her slowly to the shower with a swaying dance that led them across more of the room than was needed.

“You’re teasing me,” Becky pouted, though she made sure to keep her ass glued to his pelvis.

“As much as I can. Now, behave and follow my instructions for the shower,” Alvin husked into her ear.

“Yes, Hero,” Becky moaned as they finally made it into the shower.

Once they finished having another round of fun in the bathroom, they got partially dressed and Alvin took Becky into the dungeon, as he thought of it. Becky slowed, taking in the variety of devices arranged around the room.

“A Saint Andrew’s cross, a wooden horse, and so many frames for delightful play,” Becky said as she walked around the room, touching them. “I see you have them a little divided. More fun time ones on the right, and the evil ones, like the horse, on the left.”

“Yes,” Alvin said as Becky began to look at the wall of paddles, floggers, whips and more.

“You plan to put me on the horse?” Becky asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“I’m sure it’ll happen at some point,” Alvin chuckled and nodded toward the doorway to the bedroom. “Come on, let’s get some food and talk shop.”

“As you wish, Hero,” Becky said as she reluctantly left the room, with many backward glances. Walking past him, she paused and pressed him against the doorframe, kissing him passionately. Breaking the kiss, she walked into the bedroom. “Thank you for doing all that for me.”

“Well, I did spend your share of the drake XP on it,” Alvin snickered.

Looking over her shoulder, Becky raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, but I’ll make it up to you,” Alvin chuckled. “Not that I’ll have to do much, considering how much you got out of it last night.”

“Fair enough. Now sit your ass down so you don’t distract me while I cook.”

“I’ll just get the coffee going first,” Alvin said, moving around her to grab the pot.

Once he had the pot set up and brewing, Alvin made sure to stay out of Becky’s way as she prepared their morning meal. Taking a seat, he watched as she moved around the kitchen. Music kicked on a moment later as Becky queued up a playlist and got started on making waffles. Singing along to “Hell’s Bells,” she danced around the kitchen as she cooked.

Grinning, Alvin felt the wave of affection and love he was beginning to associate with Becky. As the song ended, she threw him a wink and segued straight into “Devil’s Dance” as the music switched to it. Chuckling at her choice of songs, Alvin heard the coffee gurgling and got up to grab cups. Becky had already beaten him to it, handing him a cup as “Every Breath You Take” started.

Snorting, Alvin kissed her cheek and retreated back to the table. Content to watch her dance and sing to an eclectic list of songs, Alvin felt a sense of serenity and happiness. The sound of plates snapped him out of his reverie. He was surprised to see that his coffee cup was empty as Becky put a plate stacked high with waffles in front of him.

“Thank you, my wonderful gothic temptress,” Alvin said, snagging her wrist and pulling her down for a kiss.

Smiling, Becky stood back up when he released her arm and grabbed his cup. “I’ll be right back with more coffee.”

She brought back coffee for them both, then went to get her plate, the butter, and the syrup. Sitting down, she waited for him to fix his plate before slathering butter and syrup on hers.

The first bite was good, with an unexpected vanilla flavor. “Delicious. Second best thing to eat in this room,” Alvin said, licking his lips while staring at her.

“I agree. It is second best, behind my favorite treat,” Becky rejoined as she licked a drop of syrup off her finger.

Chuckling, they went back to eating, both of them enjoying the meal. When they were finished, Alvin felt sated, but not stuffed. “Wonderful, Gothy, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Hero. Now, why don’t you start talking about upgrades while I get the dishes sorted?”

Grabbing his bag, he pulled out runes and guns, setting them on the table. “I have the guns and accessories to modify them. I paid for them already, and I bought the runes I thought would be best. You can, of course, pick up different runes for yours, if you want. We’ll need to go back to wearing our pistols on our hips as well as having an auxiliary gun. Probably in the car, since we can only store one gun per glove.”

Becky nodded as she washed the plates. “That is a concern. I’ll probably keep the Tommy in the glove box. We can store your extra there too; I assume it's going to be the rifle.”

“That is an assumption, but is also correct,” Alvin said. “I picked up Durability for all the guns, to give them a little more life; Armor Buster, because we seem to find a lot of shit with armor; Reload, which takes ten seconds to reload a gun—”

“Bullshit. Jarvis!” Becky said from the sink.

“As I’ve said before, miss, I have no input into the system,” Jarvis replied primly.

“Still bullshit,” Becky said. “Sorry, Hero. Go on.”

“For the Tommy, I picked up Recoil to help you keep it on target better, since it kicks like a mule. For both of our sub guns and the rifle, I got Silence to see how much the twenty percent helps. The MP5-N had two more slots, so I picked up Bloody and Wounding for it. None of them have been attached yet though, so if you want something else, we can do that.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Becky said as she set the plates to dry.

Starting with the rifle, he pulled the magazine and made sure the chamber was clear before he set it on the table. Picking up the Durability rune first, he wondered how applying runes worked. Holding the rune, all of the guns on the table took on an overlay with round spots for the runes to slip into. “Well, that’s easy.”

Taking her seat, Becky emptied both of her guns of ammunition before picking up the first rune. “Ahh, I see what you mean.”

It only took them a couple of minutes to apply runes to their guns. Alvin was attaching the suppressor to the rifle and UMP when Becky summoned her handgun. “I need my holster, but it’s in the car,” she frowned and had the MP5-N vanish into her glove.

“Put it in your bag for now, then,” Alvin said, sliding the rifle into his bag before summoning his handgun and doing the same to it. Picking up the UMP, he had it vanish into his left glove.

“We’ll grab both holsters when we head out. We need to see what the fallout is when Han finds out that Karee bought the Contracted Power.” Alvin said as he stood up and stretched.

“Fun times ahead,” Becky said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Hero?” When he glanced at her, she kissed him lightly. “I promise to behave, in regards to Karee. Have you given any thought to what might happen if she wants to go with us after this raid?”

Alvin’s lips pursed as he considered her words. “No, I haven’t. I hope that neither of us encouraging her will dissuade her.”

Gothy giggled, “You’re so cute.” Walking toward the glowing arch that marked the doorway back into the game, she looked back at him. “Come on, Hero, we have a world to explore.”

Chapter Ten

Making their way upstairs, the couple found a good dozen people sitting in the great room, going over gear and sorting it into bags. Milo gave Alvin and Becky a nod as they entered the room. “You missed breakfast.”

“We had waffles,” Alvin replied. “Where’s Shawn?”

“Over at the armory, making sure that we have a range of weapons, just in case,” Milo replied.

“What about Han?” Becky asked.

“He was looking over the kiosk last I saw him,” Milo shrugged. “He said something about upgrading some gear.”

“Thanks,” Alvin said as he went to the exit.

“Gothy,” Karee called out from the dining room, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

Alvin gave her a brief look before he left. Becky gave him a small smile and turned to head over to the teen. “What’s up?”

Briefly wondering if Becky would hold to what she had said, Alvin shook his head and felt a pang of shame for doubting someone he claimed to trust and love. The yard was bustling with activity as a number of people were guiding five semi trucks to a spot outside the walls.

Walking toward the armory, Han called out, catching Alvin’s attention. “Alvin, wait, please.” He turned to see a sheepish expression on Han’s face. “What’s up, Han?” he asked, his brows furrowing in puzzlement.

“About yesterday,” Han paused as he looked away. “I’m sorry about my outburst yesterday. I’m just a bit overzealous about keeping Karee safe. Millhouse was our brother. Not by blood, but by choice, and I just can’t let his only child be put into harm’s way.”

Alvin nodded slowly. “I can see your point, and I didn’t take much offense. I want to ask something, and I hope you’ll be open to considering it. If Millhouse was still alive and Karee said she wanted to do this, what would he have said?”

Han’s jaw set, his hands clenching. “He might have allowed it, but he would have been there with her to protect her.”

“If you’re filling his shoes, then maybe you should fill his shoes,” Alvin said simply. “It’s possible people going on this trip might die, yourself included. How do you think she’ll take it if you force her to stay behind and she finds out you died?”

Nostrils flaring, Han glared at Alvin. “I don’t think you understand. I’ve heard you were an orphan. You don’t understand how hard it is to see family walk into harm’s way.”

Alvin sighed, “It’s your call, but the way you’re going right now, she’s going to run. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but the tighter you hold that leash, the more likely it is that she bolts.” Shrugging, Alvin started walking toward the armory. “That’s just my opinion, though.”

Han watched him go with angry eyes before stalking off toward the gate. Becky came out of the house just in time to see Han stalk away and Alvin head toward the armory. Brow furrowing, she wondered what they’d said to each other. Alvin looked calm, but Han looked ready to hurt someone. Shaking her head, she started for the Mustang, wanting to check on a few things.

At the machine shop, Alvin found Wynn going over a Garand. “That looks like it’s seen some action,” Alvin said in greeting.

“It has,” Wynn said as he checked the rifle. “The en bloc clips are a pain, but it’s what my father used during the war. He experienced the pain of M1 thumb a number of times.” Seeing Alvin’s puzzled look, Wynn put the fully loaded clip in place and the bolt shot forward. “If you don’t get your thumb out of the way, you get M1 thumb.”

“Learn something new every day,” Alvin chuckled. “I wasn’t really a gun person until this whole thing kicked off. I would have called any magazine a clip before talking to a few people.”

Wynn snorted, “Don’t feel bad, a lot of people make that mistake. Back in my day, we had a guy in the squad who would call them clipazines just to piss off the others. Man, did he regret that when all his magazines disappeared the morning of range day.”

Alvin grinned. “That sounds like a story.”

“It was…” Wynn trailed off, his gaze going distant for a moment. Coughing, he glanced at Alvin. “But that isn’t what brought you here. What can I do for you?”

“I was looking for Shawn, to find out when he plans to get the show on the road,” Alvin told the old veteran. “I also wanted to thank you for all the modification work on the guns.”

“Shawn’s inside the vault, grabbing a few extra weapons that might come in useful,” Wynn replied. “Said something about getting runes for them. I’m a little too old to try and keep up with all these changes. As long as the guns fire when I pull the trigger, I’ll be happy enough.” Pausing, Wynn met Alvin’s eyes for a moment. “Just keep my son alive, and I’ll be happy that the modifications were done for good reason.”

“I’ll do my best,” Alvin said, leaving the older man to whatever else he had planned.

He got to the vault door just as Shawn was coming out. “Alvin, did you want to shop some more?” Shawn chuckled as he shut the door.

“Well, since the shop looks closed, I’ll pass,” Alvin replied. “I just wanted to check in and see when you were planning on this carnival hitting the road.”

“After dinner,” Shawn said as he started toward the yard. “Dad, I’m going to hand off the Overseer spot to you before we go.”

“No need for that,” Wynn grumbled. “You’ll be back to bother me after the trip.”

Shawn gave his father a tight smile. “Dad, I mean it.”

With a deep sigh, Wynn looked away from Shawn. “Don’t make your mother cry.”

“I don’t intend to, but if things go pear shaped, I want to make sure this place is stable.”

“Maybe you should hand it off to Placido then, he can sell ice to an Eskimo,” Wynn said.

“It’s your house, not his,” Shawn said firmly. “Now stop the bullshit.”

“Kids,” Wynn said as he grabbed the Garand and headed toward the vault.

Alvin watched him go, then followed Shawn into the yard. “Anything special between now and when we leave?” Alvin asked, trying to get the conversation back on topic.

“Nothing,” Shawn snapped. Taking a few deep breaths, Shawn looked back at the building they had just left. “Old cantankerous bastard. He could do this, he just won’t try.”

“Maybe he just wants to know his son can take over for him,” Alvin suggested.

“Doesn’t matter, we have a raid to think about,” Shawn said, brushing aside the moment. “We have twenty-two people going, six of which can drive a rig, but we’ll only be taking five rigs in case one of the drivers goes down.”

“I can drive a rig, too,” Alvin informed Shawn. “I’d rather stay in my car, though.”

“We’ll hope you aren’t needed, then,” Shawn said. “I’m going to rune up these guns, get them handed out, and remind everyone to make sure they have some armor at least, then get my survival bag ready.”

“What about your daughter?” Alvin asked.

“Mom will take care of her for me,” Shawn said. “She had a panic attack last night, thinking those Fey fuckers were coming for her again.” Teeth grinding, Shawn seethed. “I plan to pay them back once we have what we’re going for. Fuckers will learn that fucking with my family and friends will cost them more than it already has.”

Alvin nodded, appreciating the sentiment. “Once this is over, Gothy and I will be heading into Northern Cali, probably.”

“At least you can carry there, now,” Shawn snorted. “What are you going that way for?”

“Gothy wants to see trees, and it’s as good as any other way for us.”

“You two are odd,” Shawn said. “No offense, but she prances around with that Contracted tattoo on her neck, and you treat her okayish, but then you say you’re going into a zombie infested forest because she wants to see trees.”

Chuckling, Alvin shrugged. “Love does strange things to a person.”

“Yeah…” Shawn muttered, going silent after that single word.

“See you for dinner,” Alvin said, leaving Shawn at the kiosk.

Heading back to the house, he saw Becky waving him over toward the Mustang. “What’s up, Gothy?”

“I still have some XP to spend, and you probably do as well,” Becky said as she got back in the passenger side of the car. Leaving the door open, she held one of the kiosk pads on her lap. “I was wondering if you have another thirteen thousand XP I can have?”

“What are you wanting to do?” Alvin asked.

“I wanted to raise my Brawn to four,” Becky told him, showing him the pad, “but it costs thirty thousand XP.”

“To better handle the Tommy?”

“That was my thought.”

“We’ll need to head over to the exchange orb,” Alvin said.

Getting back out of the car, Becky wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately. Leaning her forehead against his when the kiss stopped, her eyes sparkled. “You always give me what I want.”

“Not always,” Alvin said as he spun her out of his arms, slapping her ass. “Start moving.”

With a wicked laugh, she winked at him and started walking, her hips swaying to music only she could hear. “As you command, Hero.”

When they went to exchange XP, Alvin noted his increased total and made a mental note to ask Jarvis about it. Then he gave her 45,000 XP, waving off her questions and leading her back to the car.

“Take off the jacket before you accept the upgrade,” Alvin said. “I want to see how noticeable the change is. You’re also upgrading Nimbleness, since I had extra XP. Jarvis, why did I have more XP all of a sudden?”

“People at all Settlements have been spending XP, sir. You now get the kiosk cut at midnight, when the system updates and resets.”

“Good to know,” Alvin nodded, turning his eyes to Becky expectantly.

Shrugging, Becky had her jacket vanish into her corset before tapping the button to accept the stat increases. Alvin blinked, as the change was noticeable. Becky shuddered, the muscles in her arms thickening just a touch, their definition becoming more pronounced. Letting out a soft whistle, Alvin nodded. “Yeah, it's noticeable. Your chest is a bit fuller now, probably because of the underlying muscles being stronger. You’ve also thinned down a touch in the middle, I think.”

Becky nodded, “Yeah, the corset feels a bit tighter up top, but still comfortable, while the lower ribs feel a bit looser. How about you, what are you going to spend what you have left on?”

Alvin pursed his lips. “I could upgrade my Brawn to stay pretty much in line with you. We also need to upgrade your Nimbleness more to bring it in line with mine, so then we can stay in line with each other.” Picking the pad up off Becky’s lap, he stared at it for a moment. “That would leave me with about twenty thousand XP, which I can hold on to in case we need it for something else.”

Becky nodded, her eyes on his body. “Just take off the jacket and shirt first, so I can see what you were talking about.”

Chuckling, Alvin had his jacket and shirt vanish before he tapped the purchase button to increase his Brawn. Shuddering for a moment as the game altered him, Alvin let out a deep breath. “Gods, that feels weird.”

“Oh, you’re becoming even more of a hunk,” Becky murmured as her hand traced his pectoral muscles, which had some definition now.

Stepping back, he was dressed in an instant. “No playing in the yard where kids can see us.”

“Maybe we should go inside for a bit, then,” Becky said as she stepped out of the car.

“You’ll get play time when we sleep,” Alvin told her firmly.

“Shouldn’t we get a nap in before dinner?” Becky said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “We’ll be driving for hours, then doing stuff. Stuff that isn’t fucking me.”

Snorting at her, Alvin lightly bonked her head with his. “While the first point was valid, the second point just means you want sex, like always.”

Rubbing her head, Becky frowned at him. “Like that’s a bad thing.”

“It isn’t,” Alvin said as he put an arm around her waist. “Maybe we should get a small nap in.”

“That’s my Hero, rescuing me from peril,” Becky snickered.

“But before we do that,” Alvin grinned mischievously, “we might need to test run the new guns to get a feel for them.”

Growling under her breath, Becky bumped into his side. “You’re being mean to me again.”

“And you love it, and you know I’m right,” Alvin said as he let her go. “Now, let’s go ask Shawn where a good spot for some quick target practice would be. Maybe we can get the others going with us to come as well, so we know who might be worth a damn.”

Nodding slowly, Becky agreed with his logic. “Okay, you win… for now.”

Chapter Eleven

Almost an hour later, they had collected everyone who was going with them on the raid and walked a block over so they had a good backstop behind the target area. While Han and Shawn were setting out a variety of targets, Karee came down the road. She was carrying a rifle over her shoulder and had a pistol strapped to her hip. Wynn walked along beside her with a small pull cart in tow.

“Oh, this is going to go badly,” Alvin murmured. “You did remind her we had nothing to do with her having the Contracted Power, I hope?”

“It’s taken care of, Hero,” Gothy said as she turned to look at Han. “The bigger question is, what’s he going to do?”

Han started back toward the shooters, then spotted Karee and Wynn. His steps slowed for a moment, before he started walking again. Bypassing the others, he went to meet Karee and Wynn. “Why did you come?” Han said to Karee, pointedly looking at the weapons.

“Wynn said he was bringing extra targets to you guys, so I thought I could get some practice in as well. Everyone needs to be able to defend themselves, now more than ever,” Karee’s voice was cold as she went to walk past Han, only to be stopped by his hand on her shoulder. “What?”

“You aren’t going with us,” Han said firmly. Seeing her begin to object, he continued speaking before she could voice her objection. “When we get back, we’ll see about setting you up on one of the hunting teams, okay?”

Eyes narrowing, Karee brushed off his hand and stomped past him. Wynn sighed, laying a hand on Han’s shoulder as he turned to go after Karee. “Son, you’re going to hurt the both of you if you try to keep her that restricted. Besides, considering the ants that attacked you at the drake, it's not like any place is really safe now, is it?”

Han frowned. “I just want her to have the life Millhouse would have wanted for her.”

“Then knock it the hell off,” Wynn said as he let go of Han’s shoulder. “Mill was a lot of things, but overprotective was never one of them.”

Alvin turned away from the scene to see Shawn talking with Karee off to the side. Han joined the two of them before Shawn broke away from them. Walking over to everyone else, Shawn raised his hand, getting everyone’s attention.

“This is just practice, so we’re going to do ear and eye protection. The first part is going to be just weapon handling, and sighting in for the weapons that you’ll be using when we leave tonight. We want to get there at sunrise and it's at least a four-hour drive normally, so we’ll be leaving at midnight, which is a little later than we originally planned. After you put a few magazines through the weapons, we’ll move onto the next part of the practice. Any questions?”

“Where did you want these?” Wynn asked.

“There is fine,” Shawn said, pointing. “We could use you, too, in case anyone has questions or needs help.”

“I’ll stay around, then,” Wynn said.

Once everyone understood where the firing line was, Shawn stepped out of the way and the first ten people took up position on the line. Becky was in the first set, Tommy gun in hand.

“She going to be able to handle that?” Han asked as he and Karee came down the line.

“She should be able to,” Alvin said as Becky raised the weapon to her shoulder.

“Going hot!” Becky yelled as she put her finger inside the guard. Taking a moment to get comfortable with the stance, she fired three quick shots, much like Alvin normally did. Frowning, she adjusted her stance and fired again. Leaning a bit more into the stance, Becky fired a third set of shots. People up and down the line began firing their own weapons. The sound of Becky’s fire was noticeably quieter than some of the others sharing the line with her.

Becky took her time emptying the drum before she let it vanish into her glove. The MP5 appeared out of her second glove, and she took a few moments to get a feel for the weapon in her hands. Once she was ready, she took it off safety and selected single shot. She did like she had with the Tommy, firing triple taps at her target. A larger smile formed on her lips as she finished the magazine. The MP5 was much quieter than the Tommy, and might have been the quietest gun on the line.

Letting that gun vanish, she brought the Tommy back out. Looking back at Alvin, she grinned and adjusted the selector switch. Bringing the Tommy up to her shoulder, she leaned hard into the stance and held down the trigger for two seconds. The sound of about fifty rounds being fired made the entire firing line turn to look at Becky, who had a manic smile on her face. Leaning in again, she emptied the drum. Becky resummoned the MP5 and waited the next few seconds until it reloaded. She switched it over to full auto as well, and leaning in, she held the trigger down. In a matter of seconds, the magazine was empty. Letting that gun vanish back into her gloves, Becky turned to look at Alvin.

Walking over to her, he looked downrange at her target. It was shredded. “I think you’re proficient enough with these. Once Shawn calls a halt to switch targets, we can get a better look at it,” Alvin said loudly to be heard over the noise of the other guns being fired.

After a few more minutes, Shawn called a ceasefire and those who had been firing went out to check their targets. Becky grinned, as hers was missing the majority of its head and heart. “The ones here on the edges of the silhouette were the first few with each gun. The Tommy still kicks, but it’s a rush to have that much firepower in my hands.”

“Fuck,” Han muttered as he looked at the target. “She’ll be fine.”

Becky snickered, “You think?”

“I’ll change this one,” Alvin said, taking the new target from Han. “This one is mine, after all.”

Han shrugged as he went down the line with more targets in his hands. Karee was looking at Becky’s target with her. “How did you get that good?”

Becky chuckled, “Shooting zombies in the head with Hero.”

“We’ll put people to the test after this,” Shawn said as he walked over to them. “That is damned good shooting.”

“My... father,” Becky grimaced, the word dripping with disdain, “had me shooting at age seven. We had to qualify with our guns twice a year, and if we failed, we would keep doing it every week until we did qualify. Needless to say, I got good fast so I wouldn’t have to go to the range every week.”

Alvin gave her a squeeze. “Come on, we should clear the line. I need to give my weapons a test.”

They were the last to get back behind the firing line. Alvin was about to step into his spot when Karee stepped around him. “Excuse me, this is my lane,” Alvin said firmly.

Looking over her shoulder, Karee grinned. “Ladies first.”

“Not in my world,” Alvin said, snagging her arm and pulling her back. “This is mine.”

Smirking, Karee backed up to Becky, eyeing him the entire time. “Yes, sir.”

Staring flatly at Becky, Alvin set his jaw. “Explain it again.”

“Yes, Hero,” Becky said, leaning her head in next to Karee’s ear and beginning to speak.

A few people had already begun to fire by the time Alvin brought the UMP up and sighted down the reflex sight, getting used to it. Switching from safety to single shot, he took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The sound was much quieter than he’d been expecting, even after Becky’s turn on the range. Firing the next two single shots, he resettled the gun and began firing his standard triple taps until he emptied the gun. He waited for the gun to reload, looking down the line to see Han and Shawn moving along it and offering advice to a couple of people.

As soon as the gun reloaded, Alvin refocused on the target, switched over to full auto, and held the trigger down. There was some recoil, but not as bad as the Type 56, so he was able to keep it on target even if it did wobble across the silhouette. Once he ran empty, Alvin let the UMP vanish into his glove and summoned his Remington 700. The bolt action rifle had more weight to it than the Type 56 did. As Alvin was trying to find a good grip for it, Shawn stepped over and showed him a trick of wrapping the sling around his forearm.

Thanking Shawn, Alvin got ready and aimed downrange at his target. He fired once, then realized that since it was a bolt action, it would require him to shift his hold on the rifle to chamber the next round. Frowning, Alvin managed to chamber the next round, but the feeling of taking a long time between shots bothered him. He fired the first ten rounds much slower than anyone else was firing.

Dropping to a knee, Alvin got the bipod out and settled in on his stomach. Taking the time to aim, he proceeded to empty ten more rounds into his target. He was the last one to finish as he sat up and closed the bipod down. Letting the gun vanish, he got to his feet as Karee, Becky, and Han walked up to him.

“Shall we?” Alvin said, leading the others downrange after Shawn called a ceasefire. His target was much more intact than Becky’s had been, but only because he’d used less ammo.

Han whistled softly, “You appear to do fine with the 700.”

The head of Alvin’s target was cored, with only two rounds outside the center group. “My first two with the rifle,” Alvin said, pointing to the missed shots. “The UMP were these,” he pointed to the heart location on the silhouette, which was shredded, “and the first few,” he said, pointing to the few shots just outside the central area.

“Seems you’ll be fine with the rifle,” Shawn said, coming up behind him. “I want to check something after the others have had their go on the line.”

“Sure,” Alvin said as he hung up a new target.

Karee took the spot Alvin had just used as they retreated behind the firing line, bringing a rifle to her shoulder. Taking careful aim down, Karee fired the first round out of her AR-15. She kept up a steady rate of fire, until all thirty rounds had been fired.

With barely any pause, she switched magazines and went back to firing. Alvin and Becky exchanged glances at that, not having had to actually exchange magazines in such a long time. Once she finished the second magazine, Karee set the rifle aside and pulled the handgun off her hip. The gun barked repeatedly, but didn’t have the intensity of Alvin’s 1911. Switching to a second magazine, she emptied it as well, then holstered the pistol and picked her rifle back up.

Han came down the line and stood next to her, looking downrange at her target. Soon after, Shawn called the ceasefire, and the shooters filed out to check their targets. Karee’s target was perforated in all the right places, but the groupings were much larger than Alvin’s or Becky’s.

“See,” Karee said pointedly at Han, “I’m good enough to go with.”

“You do fine with normal target practice, but that isn’t the same as shooting to live.”

Karee’s nostrils flared, but Shawn interceded. “She’ll run the course with the others. If she can place in the upper half, she can go.”

Han turned on his brother. “No!”

Shawn stood his ground, his jaw thrust out. “Do you want to make an issue of this?”

Seething, his hands clenching and unclenching, Han stormed off. “You’re going to get her killed.”

Karee gave Shawn a fragile smile. “Thanks, Uncle.”

“You have to earn the spot,” Shawn said. “It took a big chunk of XP to set up the next bit. Don’t think it’s a given.”

“I’ll get it done,” Karee said with all the overconfidence of a teen.

Alvin shook his head. “What is next?”

“Live fire, urban combat scenario,” Shawn said, a smile forming on his lips. “I always wanted one of these courses.” Raising his voice so everyone could hear him, he cleared his throat, “Okay folks, follow me.” Shawn led them back toward the compound and around the hill just behind it. He stopped at a tunnel leading into the hill. “This is the course. It starts here and ends a few hundred yards away over there,” he pointed off to the left. “Inside are a number of facades and pop-up targets. The goal is to get through without letting a bad guy live for more than three seconds, and not killing any of the innocent people. Targets only go down if you land a killing shot, but a non lethal shot on a bad guy gives you an extra second to knock it down. If you hear a loud buzzer, you’re dead. Finish the run even if you die, so you get practice dealing with surprise enemies. The course times your run and the number of shots fired.”

Silence greeted his announcement. Shawn waited a moment, but still no one said anything. “Since there are no questions, who wants to be first?”

Karee stepped forward. “I’ll go.”

Han stomped off toward the exit, his face dark, but he didn’t say anything. Shawn watched his brother go with a shake of his head. “Okay Karee, you’re up. Everyone else, form a single file line. When the light above the door goes green, next one goes in.”

Becky stepped over and spoke quietly to Karee while handing over her pistol and MP5. “Use these so you have enough ammo, and bring them back when you’re done.”

Karee gave Becky a hug before exchanging guns with her. With the new pistol on her hip and the MP5 in hand, Karee paused in front of the opening. Taking a deep breath, she mumbled something, then went into the doorway at a fast walk, the MP5 up to her shoulder and ready.

The light went red as soon as Karee went into the tunnel. A line formed as the sound of gunfire echoed out of the tunnel. Becky and Alvin walked toward the exit, where Han stood waiting, his hands tucked into his armpits and right foot tapping impatiently.

He glanced at them, but didn’t say anything. Alvin shrugged and waited patiently while Becky carried Karee’s guns. Almost five minutes later, Karee came out of the tunnel, breathing heavily but grinning. A display above the exit showed her time, body count, and number of shots fired.

“Fifty-nine rounds of 9mm and fifteen of .45,” Han said with a sniff. “You wasted a lot of ammo.”

“She got all of the bad guys in time, didn’t kill any good guys, and completed the course in 4:48,” Becky said as she exchanged guns with the teen. “She wants to give me a run for my money. Too bad I’ll smoke you, Ree.”

Alvin and Becky walked back to the entrance, leaving Karee and Han talking. Han was still scowling and glaring after them. They joined the end of the line, amusing themselves with a game of hot hands as the line slowly moved along. Eventually, the person in front of Becky went in, so the game came to an end with both of them shaking red hands.

“Fucker, you were trying to make me quit,” Becky said as she kissed her hands.

“Need an edge to win this,” Alvin said. “I know you’ll give me a run for it.”

“Are we going to make this a bet?” Becky asked with a mischievous grin.

“Sure, a one-time request that can be asked of the other, that precludes what we’ve already discussed,” Alvin said.

Becky’s lips thinned, but she nodded. “Okay. I still want a favor, so it’s on.”

Alvin smirked. “Put up or shut up, bitch.”

Eyes widening, Becky shook her head. “You're going down. Now and later.” Walking toward the entrance of the tunnel, she summoned her MP5.

Grinning at her sudden fire, Alvin watched her stand before the tunnel. As soon as the light went green, Becky took off running. Alvin watched her go, chuckling as he walked up to the entrance and summoned his UMP.

“You two are odd,” Shawn said. “Think you’re going to beat me?”

“Maybe. You set the course, though,” Alvin shrugged.

“It’s automated,” Shawn said. “There are things that use electronics in the store that seem to work. Maybe that means we can get all the old stuff working again, or at least some of it.”

“That would be good,” Alvin said as the light above the entrance went green. Blinking, he looked at his watch. “Three minutes, give or take a few seconds. She’s going to make me work for this.” Rolling his head, Alvin took a deep breath. “See you on the far side.”

Alvin sprinted into the tunnel without waiting for Shawn to reply. Dim lights illuminated the tunnel, and he could see where it opened up in front of him. He brought the UMP up as the hiss of hydraulics warned him that a target was coming up, but he didn’t pull the trigger as he saw a child looking back in fear. The hiss behind him brought Alvin around to see a werewolf looking creature snarling at him. Two shots to the head knocked it down.

Alvin started moving through the room, which was broken up by cutouts of houses with doors and windows. Moving toward the far side of the room, he shifted his aim from side to side as more hissing targets popped up on either side. Moving as quickly as he could, he cleared the first section and found another tunnel. Sprinting down the new tunnel, he wasn’t expecting the hiss behind him. Going into a slide, he turned and fired twice before he registered the target. Luckily, it was a giant ant. Jumping back to his feet, Alvin took off running again, silently cursing the momentum lost.

The next section was much like the first, but the layout was altered and had two stories, which meant he had to keep checking above as he went through it. He had to switch guns after four targets, as his UMP ran dry. Letting it vanish into one glove, he pulled his .357 to finish the run. Ten targets later, Alvin took off sprinting toward the exit. Holstering the pistol, he put his head down and ran all out. The light grew brighter as he ran and, seeing everyone outside looking at the scoreboard, he pushed harder and came out of the tunnel with no intention of slowing. Luckily, no one was in his way, so he slowed and came back to the group, breathing hard.

Looking up, he saw that he’d cleared the course in 2:59, with thirty-nine rounds expended, no innocents killed, and all twenty bad guys downed. Grinning, he turned to Becky. “How did you do?”

“3:01, thirty-seven rounds, all enemies killed, and no innocents,” Becky grumbled.

“Looks like you owe me,” Alvin chuckled as he put his arms around her.

“How did you do that?” Karee asked from a few feet away.

“I got a lot of practice with this sort of thing in the first few days,” Alvin said. “Now I just abuse my stats to make things easier.”

“You suggest raising stats first, then?” Karee asked.

“They are a very good investment,” Alvin replied as the board reset and started counting. “That would be Shawn.”

A little under three minutes later, Shawn came sprinting out the exit. Alvin nodded. “Beat me by ten seconds.”

“I forgot about the one in the tunnel,” Shawn panted, “thought for sure that cost me time.”

The board reset, and all eyes went to it. “Who’s in there?” Milo asked.

“Han,” Shawn said, still trying to catch his breath. “He was walking up just as I went in.”

Han came out of the tunnel with 2:54 on the clock, and perfect on kills. Glancing at the clock, he looked at Shawn. “Did you win?”

“Barely, but yeah,” Shawn nodded. “The ant slow you?”

“Yeah,” Han panted, “that was devious.”

“How did everyone do?” Karee asked.

Shawn walked over to the exit and flipped a switch. A few seconds later he was holding several sheets of paper. “Okay. Francis, you killed two kids… what the fuck, man?”

A weaselly looking guy shrugged. “They surprised me.”

“Right, don’t surprise Francis,” Becky commented just loud enough to get laughs from those standing near her.

“Karee, you finished twelfth,” Shawn said, “so you’ll be going with us.”

Bouncing in place, Karee let out a loud cheer before running over to Becky and hugging her. “I can go!”

“Okay, we’re returning to the Settlement. Alvin, hang back for a second, please.”

Watching the teen girls celebrate, Alvin shook his head. As everyone else started walking away, Alvin went to see what Shawn wanted. “What’s up?”

“I thought you might like to see the sound readings,” Shawn said, handing over one of the pages. “Middle of the page is Becky, then you.”

Alvin took the page and gave it a good look. “Huh. I didn’t expect the suppressors and the runes to bring it down that much.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t nearly as loud as the others, but I wanted to get hard numbers,” Shawn said. “Dropping it from a hundred sixty-two decibels to ninety-eight decibels is pretty fucking good. If I understand the runes, an upgraded Silence would take away another thirty-two, dropping it to sixty-six, about the same as a dishwasher or something similar.”

“Hmm. An excellent quality rune of Silence would drop that down to thirty-four. What is even that quiet?” Alvin asked.

“Library, maybe,” Shawn shrugged. “So if you wanted to make an ultra-quiet weapon, it’s possible if you use most of the rune slots for Silence.”

“It is an idea,” Alvin said. After a brief pause, Alvin asked Shawn a question that had been bothering him. “How did you get the shooting range things built? I’m sure you can’t buy something like that now.”

“I had it queued when the update went through. When the game updated, everything that was queued up was automatically finished,” Shawn said. “I’m glad I had it ready, because it would be a lot of work to do it now.”

“Especially since it’s inside the hill,” Alvin chuckled.

“Yeah, that obviously wouldn’t fly now,” Shawn said. “I’d have to build it around the back side of the hill if I wanted it done now, though a lot of the automated stuff I was able to add in after, with just a minor wiring addition. Carlson did that this morning, so now we have the board to keep score.”

Alvin nodded. “Fair enough. Looks like there’s enough time to get a nap in before dinner, then another afterwards so we’re good for the drive and whatever else we find.”

Shawn snorted, “Nap. Right.” His eyes flicked to Becky, who had also stayed behind.

“Before dinner will be a nap,” Alvin chuckled.

Shaking his head, Shawn started walking. “I don’t want to know.”

“Fair enough,” Alvin laughed as he walked over to Becky. “Ready for that nap?”

Eyes eager, Becky nodded. “Oh yes, a nap…”

Chapter Twelve

Becky was less than amused when Alvin finally woke up from his nap. “Asshole,” Becky grumbled as she lay there curled up against him. “Now let me get up and use the bathroom.”

Brushing the hair back from her face, Alvin grinned at Becky. “You didn’t like your cuddle time?”

“Using the collar to prevent me from doing anything but cuddling was mean.”

“Did you enjoy it? Answer truthfully,” Alvin said firmly.

Closing her eyes, Becky gritted her teeth. “It was wonderfully controlling. Now let me up, please.”

“You’re free of restrictions,” Alvin chuckled and gave her a light squeeze.

“Thank you,” Becky jumped out of bed and hurried to the small attached bathroom in the plain, grey room.

Alvin stretched and got out of bed. Summoning his clothes, Alvin chuckled as he recalled Becky’s excitement when he’d dragged her to bed, then her look of horror when he restricted her to cuddling only.

Becky came out of the bathroom staring at him with evil intent. “Hero… do you know what you can do to make it up to me?”

“I will after dinner, when we take our second nap,” Alvin said as he approached her. “Until then, you’re going to be left wanting.” Pulling her into his arms, he nuzzled her neck. “Or I could wind you up even more and then order you to behave.”

Becky moaned as he brushed his lips against her neck. “You’re evil. Fuck, you really are perfect for me.”

Nipping her collarbone, Alvin chuckled as she gasped. Letting her go, he walked past her into the bathroom, “Go lay on the bed ass up, Gothy. I’ll be along shortly.”

He was aware of Becky sprinting for the bed as he shut the door behind him. Leaving the bathroom a few minutes later, he found Becky completely nude on the bed wiggling her ass at him.

“I’m ready, Hero.”

“I can see that,” Alvin chuckled as he walked over to the bed. The scent of sex was starting to permeate the air. He could see Becky’s hands between her thighs, one teasing her clit and the other rubbing her already wet lips. “Started without me, it seems.”

“I want it bad,” Becky panted.

“Stop playing with yourself, right now,” Alvin commanded her.

A whimper came from her and her hands slowly retreated from where they had been. “Hero…” The pleading in that single word was clear.

Alvin stepped closer and brought his hand down firmly on her left ass cheek. The crack of flesh meeting flesh was loud enough to make anyone in the hallway outside the room pause for a moment.

“Shhh, I know what you want and need, Gothy. You’re mine, in every way.”

Shuddering, Becky cried out as the spank and his words pushed all of her buttons, putting her right on the edge of orgasm. “Again… please.”

His next swat pulled a guttural moan from her. She hadn’t expected the paddle he pulled from his bag. Taking his time, he alternated ass cheeks as he turned it a nice pink. Becky was shaking in place as he timed the swats to keep her on the edge, but not push her over it.

After keeping her on edge for well over ten minutes, he suddenly stopped. “You’re not allowed to play with yourself, nor are you allowed to have Karee help you. Plus, I have a little item that will help keep you in this exact state until after dinner.”

Panting as she realized he was done and was going to leave her on edge, Becky tumbled to her side and whimpered, her eyes full of lust. “What is it?”

“Spread your legs for me,” Alvin commanded her. He took the new item, a silicone thimble with a shooter marble tucked inside of it, and snuggled it right up against Becky’s clit. “No cumming.”

Eyes wide as he got the toy in place, she touched her neck as the binding enforced his command. “What’s this going to do?”

Handing Becky her underwear, he grinned. “I’ll show you. Get dressed.”

Becky’s eyes widened slightly as she stood up to obey him. “Oh…”

“Yup. My little helper there is going to be a mighty distraction,” Alvin smirked. “Now the fun—if no one guesses how much distress you’re feeling all through dinner, I’ll give you a special reward.”

Taking a few deep breaths, Becky nodded. “What if I fail?”

“Then you miss out on the reward,” Alvin said simply as he walked to the door. “It’s a special treat, so it would be a shame if you missed it.”

Becky walked to the door carefully, having to control her breathing even for those few steps. “Where did you learn about this?”

“The marble? An old girlfriend. Like you, she was all about being kept on the edge.”

Nodding, Becky went past him and started down the hall. “This is going to be a challenge.”

“Yup, especially with the stairs,” Alvin murmured with a soft chuckle. He stayed a couple of steps behind her, watching her trying to minimize the movement of the marble. “We’ll only be able to do these kinds of things when we’re in a Settlement or our room, but I am going to be very mean to you when we are.”

“Good to me, you mean,” Becky said, her face slightly flushed when she looked back at him.

“Both,” Alvin agreed. “I’ll be right behind you. Mind the stairs.”

When they finally reached the top floor, Becky was red-faced and panting. The only reason she hadn’t orgasmed was the collar preventing it. Luckily for her, no one was in the great room, so Alvin got her seated and went to get her some water. He paused to trade pleasantries with Marie and Laurel, and came back to find Becky talking with Karee.

“Here you go,” Alvin said, handing Becky the water. “How are you, Karee?”

“Disappointed,” Karee said. “Gothy told me that you’re going to stay hands off.”

“Indeed,” Alvin said.

Getting to her feet from where she had been kneeling by Becky’s feet, Karee nodded sadly. “I get it. Did you know I’ll be seventeen soon?”

Shaking his head, Alvin didn’t rise to the bait. “So, in a little over a year, I might not get shot for touching you. That’s good to know.”

Seeing that her tactic had worked against her, Karee pouted, “I have to go check on stuff.” She stalked off, clearly upset.

“Hero, when we come back this way after a year has passed, maybe we can reevaluate?” Becky asked, taking his hand.

“We’ll see, but a year is a long time. It’s been barely over a week since this all started.”

“Didn’t expect to see you both here before dinner was called,” Shawn said as he and Kate walked into the room. “Have a good nap?”

“I did,” Alvin chuckled.

“He was mean to me the entire time,” Becky said, “but he promised to make up for it after dinner.”

Shaking his head, Shawn glanced at his daughter, then back to them. “Let’s keep it clean, shall we?”

Becky shrugged. “I was. I didn’t give any details.”

“Anyone seen Karee?” Han asked as he came up the stairs.

“She went outside just a minute ago,” Alvin said. “What’s up?”

“I need to give her the XP to buy the Contracted Power, and also get her gear set up since she’s going with,” Han said, heading toward the door. “See you at dinner.”

Becky and Alvin exchanged a quick look, unnoticed by Shawn, who was talking to his daughter. They both smirked and wondered how much Karee would soak Han for so she could get even more upgrades than he expected.

“Dinner will be ready in five minutes,” Marie said from the kitchen doorway. “Can one of you ring the bell, please?”

“I want to ring the bell,” Kate said, tugging on Shawn’s hand.

“Okay, let’s go,” Shawn said and led his daughter toward the porch.

Alvin helped Becky to her feet, then pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped down the chair she’d been sitting in. “That’s what I thought might happen.”

Becky’s face went red, “Oh.”

“Dripping like a faucet,” Alvin murmured as he pulled her in for a hug. “Who’s a wanton little slut? My Gothy is.”

Shuddering, Becky gave a small meow, “Hero, how can I keep it a secret from the others if you hold me like this?”

“Fair point, Gothy,” He let her go, but took her hand and towed her into the dining room. Pulling out her chair, he seated her. “There. Now you can try to hide it a little longer. But, you won’t be able to get up until the room is empty.”

“Prolonging my teasing,” Becky murmured as she shifted in place, trying to get the marble to a less effective position, but only caused the toy to press against her even more. “Oh, gods…”

“Enjoy the suspense,” Alvin grinned. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Alvin went to help Marie and Laurel with getting the tables set. Every time he went past Becky, he would smirk at her and sniff pointedly, which made Becky squirm a little more in her seat.

The room began filling with people. Alvin took his seat after helping get food onto the tables, nudging Becky slightly and making her shift in place. “I’m hungry. How about you, Gothy?”

“Starved,” Becky replied, her lips twitching as the marble shifted.

The people closest to them; Ann, who was one of Placido’s daughters, and Karee, both had puzzled expressions when they first sat down. Ann frowned at Becky, but Karee just grinned at them both. Quickly enough, everyone turned their attention to the food. A lightly minted lamb stew was the meal for everyone, the first time Alvin had seen only one option for a meal.

“Just like breakfast, we’re going to be serving consolidated meals,” Laurel said to the few who were grumbling about the lack of choice. “We have to adapt to the way we’re going to be getting food with the way the world works now.”

“After dinner,” Placido said, when she finished speaking, “I’ll be explaining our plans for the farms, and other ideas for food, for those that would like to help with that endeavor.”

The rest of the meal was mostly silent, aside from compliments to the ladies for the meal. As people finished, they stacked their bowls and left the room. Alvin took his time eating, covertly keeping an eye on Becky, who kept squirming in her seat.

Karee lingered over her meal with a number of glances at Becky. Han dragged her off to go over her gear, and Karee shot one last, knowing smirk at Becky as she left the table. Alvin finished while Becky, her cheeks tinged pink, still had a few bites left in her bowl.

“Too much for you?” Alvin teased as he picked up a stack of bowls to help Marie and Laurel clear the table.

“I’m nearly stuffed,” Becky replied with heated eyes.

“If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding,” Alvin said as he walked off. When he came back, Becky’s bowl was empty. “I see you’re ready to go.”

“Please,” Becky panted.

Waiting until the women took another stack of bowls to the kitchen, Alvin got Becky to her feet and cleaned up her chair. “Your pants have a wet spot,” Alvin told her softly as he motioned her toward the door. “I’ll just walk behind you, shall I?”

Following her, Alvin watched as the wet spot vanished. He attributed it to the clothing cleaning itself. Knowing that, he stepped forward and took her arm, much to her surprise. “Then again, if I walk beside you…” Trailing off, he watched her begin to breathe faster at the thought of everyone seeing the wet spot.

Placido was in the midst of an animated discussion in the great room. Alvin nodded to those who looked over as they walked through on their way to the stairs. Becky kept her eyes forward and tried not to think about how many people now knew she was dripping with every step.

As they descended, Becky was breathing heavily, her body trying to orgasm but the collar stopping her. “Hero, please…”

“Not until we’re back in our room,” Alvin told her. The first blank door he came to, he toggled the button to convert it into a portal back to their base. “After…” he trailed off with a chuckle, as Becky darted through the glowing doorway, “you,” he finished with a chuckle.

Becky was naked and on all fours by the time he followed her into the room, her ass pointed at him. “Hero, please, take me.”

Unable to resist her invitation, Alvin was soon naked and entering her from behind. One hand went to her hip to help him keep a good steady pace, the other tangled in her hair, pulling her head up. “I know you’ve been wanting this, Gothy. Even more than I’ve been wanting to give it to you, and that is an awful fucking lot.”

Moans and small mewls of pleasure came from Becky as she thrust herself back toward him. The marble hadn’t come free of where it was tucked next to her clit, and the extra stimulation was driving her into a frenzy.

Alvin grunted as he felt her inner walls twitching like crazy, as she hadn’t been given the okay to cum yet and her body was fighting the bond. “Cum for me, Gothy,” Alvin said as he let go of her hip and slapped her ass hard.

Finally released, she slammed back into him like a hammer while her pussy clenched around his cock, contracting tighter with each pulse of pleasure she felt. As wet as she was, though, Alvin was able to keep thrusting, breathing deeply to make sure he held out against the pleasure he was feeling.

Becky’s voice dipped before rising in pitch again as she orgasmed immediately after her first started to subside. Her hips met each thrust from him with equal, if not greater, force.

Pulling her hair just a little more, he started slapping her ass in a solid rhythm as he felt her crest the second time. The spanking only spurred Becky further; her second orgasm started to die off, but a third was close behind.

Reaching around her, Alvin pulled the marble out, earning a whimper from Becky, who was torn between relief and sadness. Slowing his thrusts, Alvin rode out her third orgasm and waited for her to start catching her breath.

“Gods…” Becky moaned as she finally was able to form words again, even as she kept meeting his thrusts. “Sooo good.”

Slowing until he came to a rest deep inside her, Alvin pulled on her hair and made her lean back toward him until he could get a hand under her chin. “Ready for your reward?”

“You mean that wasn—yes!” Becky switched tracks before finishing the sentence, earning a chuckle from Alvin.

Pulling out with a sigh, Alvin got to his feet and pulled Becky up with him. Wrapping his free arm around her waist, he guided her toward the dungeon. “I was thinking of maybe the cross, or the horse.”

“Ohhh, give me a ride on the horse until I beg to be let down,” Becky murmured as a wide smile was plastered all over her face.

“We still need some sleep, so you’re only going to get a short ride, but I’ll apply proper motivation with the crop,” Alvin whispered into her ear as he led her toward the wooden horse.

Chapter Thirteen

The sound of “Crazy Train” played at volume woke the two of them up with a jolt. “Kill the song, Jarvis, we’re awake.”

“You did request that I not allow you to oversleep,” Jarvis commented dryly.

“Yeah, I did,” Alvin said as he got out of bed. “How much time do we have?”

“It is one half of an hour before the appointed time.”

“Quick shower, then go?” Becky asked.

“We’ll have to make do with granola for breakfast again,” Alvin sighed. “I was really getting used to your meals, too.”

“I’ll cook you a good one next chance we get,” Becky said as she started toward the bathroom.

“Maybe I’ll cook you one, instead,” Alvin replied as he followed her, admiring how even the faint bruises on her ass stood out against her pale skin.

They were ready quickly, which wasn’t surprising since they didn’t fool around. Dressed and ready to go, the two made it to the great room to find Han and Karee already there. “Do we have an idea how people are being split up?” Alvin asked Han.

“Two to a car, two to each rig,” Han replied. “Driver and shotgun.”

“Sounds good. Anyone else up yet?” Becky asked.

“Seems there are now,” Han said, at the sound of people coming up the stairs.

It started to look like the entire Settlement was waking up to see them off, even though it was approaching midnight. Shawn appeared with Kate in his arms, Wynn and Laurel right behind him. The room wasn’t quite big enough, so everyone started piling out into the yard.

“Where do you want me and Gothy?” Alvin asked Shawn as they went outside.

“You’ve driven the road between here and Tonopah most recently,” Shawn said. “I’d like you in the lead. You’ve upgraded your Mustang far more than we have our vehicles, so it would be best if you took point.”

“Where are the rigs going?” Alvin asked.

“In the middle of the convoy,” Shawn replied before kissing Kate’s head. “Make sure you’re all ready, we’ll be heading out in ten minutes.”

“I’m ready, but I’ll double check,” Alvin said, striding away toward the Mustang, where Becky was waiting.

“Here’s breakfast, Hero,” Becky said, holding out a granola bar and a bottle of water.

Snagging the offering, he leaned against the car next to her. “What do you think?”

“That if we encounter anything serious, a bunch of them are going to die,” Becky said honestly between bites of her own breakfast.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Alvin sighed. “As long as Shawn makes it back, they should be alright. He’s got ideas that look like they might actually be worthwhile.”

“I heard a few of the people talking,” Becky said. “There’s another group going out to a place called Gosa to wrangle some cows for the farms.”

“I hope they have a really big trailer, then,” Alvin chuckled, thinking of the massive cows they’d seen on the way there.

“There’s livestock in the store,” Becky mentioned.

Brow furrowing, Alvin frowned. “What?”

“You can buy chickens, cows, goats and a few other animals in the store,” Becky chuckled. “I’m sure they’re in there just for the Settlements, but they’re in there. It’s limited to domesticated food animals. You can’t buy a guard dog, for instance. Or at least, not yet.”

“Hmm. They know that, I hope,” Alvin muttered as he crumpled up the wrapper.

“Placido does,” Becky nodded at the older man with glasses standing with his wife, kids, and grandkids. “They think it would be better to go round up a few than to buy them, though they do have plans to buy a bull instead of trying to capture one.”

“Don’t blame them in the least. I’m fairly certain bulls are going to be even more mean tempered now.”

“Everyone!” Shawn shouted, “we’re about to leave. We're headed to Hawthorne to loot the fuck out of the munitions dump and base. We’ll hopefully be bringing back a collection of explosives, as well as anything else useful. I’ll do my best to bring everyone back safely, but nothing is certain now. You all know who you’re with on the drive. We’re following Alvin in the Mustang. Once on site, we’ll take stock before we start looting. There might be survivors, but if they draw on you, defend yourselves. You are more important than anyone who might be there.” He walked toward his father, still holding Kate in his arms. “Go on over to Alvin and make the pledge, so we’re all in the group and ready to go. We leave in five minutes, so say your goodbyes.”

Alvin stood there for the next five minutes, accepting pledges from the people going to Hawthorne, including a Kate-less Shawn. He promised each of them the previously agreed upon split of the loot. Becky stood beside him the whole time, head held high, showing off her collar. Most people seemed happy that they only ended up with a simple mark on the wrist.

Karee tried to pledge more, but Alvin declined until she pledged the same as everyone else had. Han gave him a curt nod before making his pledge, then turned to drag Karee off to the Jeep. Alvin watched them go, as they were the last two to pledge.

In the Mustang, Alvin rolled down the windows, glad that his clothing helped with cold. The autumn night air was nippy, and he could see quite a few people shivering. “Zombies and who knows what else. You ready for the start of the next leg of this adventure?”

“With you, Hero, I’ll be ready for anything,” Becky said as she ran her hand from his knee to thigh. “Were you going to talk with Ohm about the dead dragon?”

“Fuck, I keep forgetting to do that. Jarvis, let Ohm know I want to speak with him about a potential XP haul for him and his. Give him a conservative estimate on what the corpse parts could fetch him. I want fifty percent of whatever they get from it. Makes me wonder—is there a way for me to get the XP without going back?”

“I will send your message, sir,” Jarvis said. “As for collecting XP without being present, yes. The XP tokens, like other items, can be sent to any other kiosk for a small fee if the originating kiosk has been upgraded to allow the function.”

“Doesn’t the second kiosk need the same function?” Becky asked.

“Not for receiving items,” Jarvis replied. “Only the sending kiosk needs the ability to ship it to others on the same network.”

“Good to know,” Alvin murmured as he watched people getting settled in their vehicles. “One more question—is there an upgrade so we can accept items like that from your pads here in the car?”

“Not in this vehicle, sir,” Jarvis replied. “It requires more room than you currently have, and also requires another Home Base upgrade first.”

Becky held out her hand. “Pad me, Jarvis. I’ll do research as he drives.”

“As you wish, miss,” Jarvis said as the pad formed in her hand. “Your message has been sent, sir. Ohm checks the kiosk every morning, so he should reply about the time you get to Hawthorne.”

“That could get interesting,” Alvin said as he put the Mustang into gear and began to idle out of the yard. “Oh well, it's time to get this raid kicked off.” Seeing all the headlights turn on, Alvin pulled a little further down the road, waiting as vehicles lined up behind him. “Gothy, poke your head out the window and tell me if it looks good.”

“The trucks are starting to move, so it looks good to me,” Becky said as she sat back down and buckled up. “Think the ghosts at Goldfield are doing okay?”

“We’ll drive by there, we can see if the doors are still in place,” Alvin said. “Not going to stop, though. I didn’t care for Smokey much.”

Becky snorted, “I was interested to see if the kids and the woman were able to regain their energy.”

“Not stopping this time. We have a place to be and loot to grab,” Alvin said as he let the car pick up speed as they left town. “I’ll keep it to the speed limit, so the trucks don’t have problems.”

About an hour later, Alvin slowed as he led them into Goldfield. The main road had been blocked off by the zombies the last time they were here, so Alvin was planning to lead them around on side roads. As they approached, he noticed that the main road had been cleared enough to allow single cars through. Alvin chewed on his lip as he slowed to a stop.

“Hang on,” he said. He got out, leaving the car running, and walked back to Shawn, who was in the vehicle behind him.

“What’s wrong?” Shawn asked as Alvin walked up to him.

“The main road is cleared, but it wasn’t when I came through here last time,” Alvin said.

“That’s because we cleared it on the way south,” George, the teen from Tonopah, said.

“Oh, right,” Alvin said. “Looks like the trucks will just fit. I’m going to go slow by the hotel, I want to see if the doors are still in place.”

“Okay,” Shawn nodded. “We’re following you.”

Getting back into the Mustang, Becky patted his thigh. “So what’s the story?”

“The group that came down from Tonopah moved them when they came south.”

“Huh. I wonder if they unblocked Tonopah?”

“We’ll find out when we get there,” Alvin said, putting the car into gear.

Just past the roadblock and around a hard turn, Alvin slowed outside the Goldfield Hotel. The front door was open, and lights were on inside the lobby. A man came walking out, holding his hand up in greeting. Alvin paused so he could hear what the guy had to say.

“Where you from?” the middle-aged man asked.

“Beatty,” Alvin said, and the other man sneered. “Oh, you must have been with the group that left.”

“We were told to leave,” the man snapped. “But we can make a Settlement here, and the ghosts have been friendly. We don’t need you.”

“I can make it so the other Settlements can trade with you,” Alvin said. “That’s something to consider, since you’re starting off much smaller than they are.”

“And what will that cost us?” the man asked, clearly wondering what the hook was.

“Nothing. Very few people can hook a kiosk to a network. I’m one of them.”

The sound of the first truck making the turn in the road brought the man’s head up, “Where are they going?”

“North,” Alvin replied, “and I’m supposed to be leading them. So, did you want to be connected or not?”

The guy waffled for a minute. “Fine.”

Alvin put the Mustang into park and got out. “Where is it?”

“The lobby,” the guy said, walking back up the stairs with Alvin.

“You should be carrying a gun,” Alvin said.

“I have one in my storage pocket,” the guy said with a smug air. “Not like you with the pistol on your hip.”

Alvin didn’t correct him, and spotted the kiosk just inside the front door. He walked up to it, not entirely sure what he needed to do. When his hand touched it, a simple pop-up asked if he wanted to add the Goldfield Kiosk to his network. Accepting it, Alvin chuckled as another pop-up thanked him for adding another Settlement to his network.

Goldfield Kiosk added to Alvin Leon Lambert’s network.

Goldfield Settlement Overseer is Grady Newton.

“Your Overseer is Grady,” Alvin said, stepping back from the kiosk. “You’re all set. I’ll have a friend send a message explaining some of oddities of the way the world works, so he can have a leg up.”

The guy frowned at Alvin. “But you didn’t do anything.”

Alvin started walking away. “I have magic hands, ask your wife. Have a good night.”

“Hey! Wait a minute, asshole,” the guy said, following Alvin.

“Thank you for stopping by, Alvin,” the woman’s ghost said as he walked out the door.

“A pleasure. Maybe I’ll stay next time,” Alvin said and kept walking. Sliding into the open door of the Mustang, Alvin smirked at the guy following him, “See you.” Putting the Mustang into gear, he drove off.

“He looked upset, what did you do this time?” Becky snickered.

“I added their kiosk to the network, then I paid him back for his attitude. He objected to me saying his wife should be asked about how magical my hands are.”

“I object to that, too. I didn’t get to sample her,” Becky said, dragging her nails over his thigh.

“Knock it off, nut,” Alvin said, slapping her hand, though he couldn’t help grinning at her.

“Fine. Did you get the kiosk set up, and did the ghosts say anything?” Becky asked.

“The female ghost said hello as I left, and yes, it has been added, so more XP possible for me. Jarvis, send that Overseer everything we’ve told the others about how the world works, please.”

“As you command, sir,” Jarvis intoned. “I could handle the driving to Tonopah for you, as well, if you but asked.”

“It would be a good test,” Alvin admitted. “Okay, Jarvis. Drive us to Tonopah, and let me know when we reach the outskirts.”

Chapter Fourteen

The road between Goldfield and Tonopah was empty. As they got into the town, Alvin noted the cars that had been on the road when they came through last had all been moved off to the sides of the road. “Looks like they made room for their convoy to Beatty. I’ve got the wheel, Jarvis.”

“As you say, sir,” Jarvis said, relinquishing control of the car to Alvin.

“From here north, it’s all new,” Becky said, sitting up straighter.

“Indeed, it shou—” Alvin cut off as something came running at the car from the passenger side. He jerked the wheel in surprise and heard the thump of a body hitting the car. “What the fuck?” his eyes went to the rearview mirror in time to catch a glimpse of a white and red blur, before Shawn hit the body and sent it flying.

“He’s going to stop,” Becky said.

She was right, as a second later, Shawn’s vehicle slowed to a stop. Alvin hit his brakes and waited to see if Shawn was going to move again, but instead, he saw the door opening.

“Fuck, he’s out of the vehicle,” Alvin said as he put Ruffian into park and got out, summoning the UMP. Triggering the flashlight on the foregrip, Alvin saw that Shawn was also illuminating the area with his gun ready. “What was it?”

“Human, I think,” Shawn said.

“It purposefully hit my car, then you hit it,” Alvin said, “that doesn’t sound human to me.” As though his words were a summoning charm, a shape came sprinting at them from the darkness, the reflection from something metallic clutched in its hands catching the light from the cars. Alvin didn’t hesitate and fired three rounds while Shawn was trying to get a good look at whatever it was.

The body came to a sprawling halt at Shawn’s feet, where his flashlight illuminated the decomposing features of a zombie dressed up like a clown. “They can run now?”

“Becky, a little help,” Alvin called out as he started seeing more shapes moving toward them. “Everyone, some help would be good.”

The sound of vehicle doors opening could be heard in the still night air. Becky was ready as she left the car, her MP5 up, the flashlight showing more undead running at the convoy. “I see it’s a clown party,” Becky laughed as she began squeezing her trigger in quick bursts.

More gunfire joined hers as everyone started firing at the shapes moving toward them. By the time the last person had to reload, they couldn’t see anything else moving in the darkness. A long moment passed as everyone waited to see if any of the undead were going to get back up.

“We should loot them,” Alvin said.

“Yeah,” Shawn said, not moving. “You first.”

Alvin snickered as he advanced toward the nearest group. “Fine. You get the one missing its brains two feet to your right.” He had to suppress a shudder as he realized that every zombie they’d killed was made up as a clown.

Becky joined Alvin in looting the bodies, making it go faster. One zombie had a single rune as its loot, and Alvin used the dim light to slip it into his fanny pack unnoticed. Becky frowned, then smirked at him when she realized what he’d done. They handed the rest of the loot to Shawn.

“Not much, some vials of bone powder and a book of tailoring. I’m thinking the book will be useful for people wanting to start in on the crafting side of things.”

Shawn nodded. “We’ll put this in with the rest of the loot when we get to Hawthorne. You can keep them until then, or I’ll throw them into the Scout.”

Alvin handed it over. “Feel free. I doubt I’ll want the book or the powder.”

“What do you think the powder is for?” George asked.

“No idea,” Alvin shrugged, “Let's get back on the road again.” Turning away, he called back over his shoulder, “Next time, don’t stop for the zombies, they might have guns.”

“I didn’t know it was a zombie,” Shawn muttered.

Back in the Mustang, Alvin fished the rune out of his pack and dropped it in Becky’s lap, then got Ruffian moving again. “What do we have?”

Becky looked at it and chuckled, “Impervious rune. It stops an item from getting dirty and lets it ignore weather and environmental effects.”

“So basically, what our clothing currently does,” Alvin nodded. “What quality is it?”

“It doesn’t have a quality,” Becky said as she put it into her bag. “Jarvis, is that supposed to be a rune without a quality?”

“Indeed,” Jarvis said. “It was decided that it would only have a single quality, as they wanted it to be a bargain compared to other runes.”

“It is a bargain, if you ask me,” Becky replied. “Our clothing protected us from the heat of salamander fire.”

“These won’t. You would need a Fire Resistance rune for that,” Jarvis replied.

“Ahh, then I can see why it only has a single quality,” Becky snorted.

“Jarvis, the zombies we just killed were moving at full speed. Is that a new thing?”

“Undead will now be just as fast as a regular human, but their intelligence will vary based on how advanced they are.”

“They were smart enough to have knives,” Alvin said, dodging around cars in the road.

“Glad they didn’t have guns, or some of the others might have been in trouble,” Becky said.

Alvin nodded as they passed a hotel dedicated to clowns. Giving the sign a long look, he shook his head. “No wonder this town was doomed.”

Becky started laughing as Alvin accelerated out of town. Nothing else surprised them as they continued north. The next most likely spot for an attack, Miller’s rest area, was passed with only a glance at the empty lot as they went by.

After miles of empty road, Alvin let the Mustang slow a little as he started to see buildings ahead on the left. When they got closer, he shook his head in exasperation, finally able to make out the burnt out husks.

“Coledale,” Becky murmured as the sign went by.

Silence filled the car as Alvin drove. He wanted to turn on some music, but decided against it so he could listen for horns. Miles flew by as the road stretched north, and Alvin blinked as he saw lights ahead in the distance.

“Something has power,” Alvin said.

Becky frowned, “It looks isolated.”

Alvin waffled for a moment as the lights drew closer. Figuring there must be people there, Alvin put on the blinker as a turn off became visible. In the rear view, he could see the other vehicles slowing and turning their blinkers on as well.

“Must be a spring around here,” Becky said, peering at a veritable forest of trees barely visible in the dim light from the crescent moon.

The lights turned out to be from a single building just off the highway. Pulling into the parking lot, Alvin snickered. The Wild Kitty Brothel seemed to be open for business, even if the cars in the lot wouldn’t run now.

Parking, Alvin got out of the car and waved at the others to wait. Before he could get to the doors they burst open, and a handful of silicone enhanced women poured out. His gun came instantly to his hand at the sudden rush of beings, who came to a skidding halt at the sight of the gun.

“Hold up there,” Alvin said, “are you all alive?”

The five women froze, before one in back came around, her eyes devoid of emotion. “Of course we are. Are you stupid?”

“You must be the reason the others are alive,” Alvin chuckled as the gun vanished back into his glove. “We’re on our way to Hawthorne, then we’ll be heading back to Beatty. If you would like to leave this place, we can get you on the way back. You could go with us now, but we’ll likely be in a few firefights, which means that you’d be in danger of dying.”

“How do we know you’ll come back?” one of the other women asked.

“You don’t, besides us saying so,” Shawn said, walking up beside Alvin. “The Settlement in Beatty is being run by my family. If you don’t mind working, we can find a place for you.”

“What do you mean, ‘a settlement run by your family?’ Beatty is a town,” one of the others said.

“You don’t know how the world works now, do you?” Alvin said, reminded that they were clueless to the nature of the world.

“What does that mean?” the woman with cold eyes demanded.

“Your call, Shawn. I’m going back to my car before this one shivs me,” Alvin said, hooking a thumb at the one with the cold eyes.

“Useless fucking men,” the whore quietly spat.

Becky arched a brow at Alvin when he slid into the car. “One of them was eye fucking you all the way back to the car. What happened?”

“I think she’s the reason the others survived, and I’m pretty sure she’s more broken than you are.”

“Five foot even, maybe eighty pounds soaking wet, but with d-cups…” Becky appraised the prostitute still glaring at the Mustang. “She might be fun, if she isn’t the raging bitch she looks like.” Tapping her lips, Becky chuckled, “Odds she dies in the next fight?”

“Not high,” Alvin said. “I think she’s looking forward to killing people.”

“Oh. Psycho, not socio,” Becky nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Good idea,” Alvin agreed as the five women went back inside the cathouse. “Be right back,” he said, getting out again. “Shawn, what’s the word?”

“They’re going to come with,” Shawn said. “I’m letting them grab some clothes before we get back on the road.”

“Keep an eye on the short one, she might shiv anyone who annoys her,” Alvin warned him.

“I’m going to have her riding with me and George,” Shawn said. “Going to have each passenger they’re with explain what happened to the world while we drive.”

“That isn’t a horrible idea. Just be careful,” Alvin said as he got back in the Mustang.

Alvin had Jarvis play a few songs while they waited, and shortly after, the women came back out of the whorehouse with a suitcase each. Once they were all loaded up, Shawn honked his horn and Alvin got Ruffian moving.

It only took a few minutes to reach what was left of Mina. Driving along the highway through town, the devastation was obvious. More homes had been burned than remained standing, not that the town had many homes to begin with.

“Guess they went north,” Alvin muttered, “‘cause they obviously didn’t go check on the cathouse.”

“If I recall the map right, there’s one more small town before Hawthorne. It’s even smaller than this place.” Becky murmured, looking at the remains of the town.

“Correct, miss. The town of Luning is between here and there,” Jarvis informed her.

“I wonder if anyone is there,” Alvin muttered.

Luning turned out to be much like Mina—mostly burned out buildings in a town maybe half the size of Mina. “Maybe they all went to Hawthorne?” Becky suggested.

“Yeah,” Alvin agreed, “but is that good or bad for us?”

“Good point,” Becky sighed. “Guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

Chapter Fifteen

The road was open and quiet as they rolled through Luning. Driving along, Alvin realized how easy the trip had been so far. A deep frown began forming as he wondered what that possibly meant for Hawthorne.

Miles rolled along under Ruffian’s wheels. The hills to the left slowly sloped down to ground level. The road curved to the west when the hills finally petered out. In the distance, Alvin caught sight of odd distortions in the sky. Letting the Mustang slow slightly as bunkers began to appear on either side of the road, Alvin ignored them and tried to figure out what the problem ahead of them was.

“Fire,” Becky said, sitting forward.

She was right—ahead of them, where Hawthorne should have been, a conflagration blazed. The flames were barely visible among the thick plumes of smoke pouring up into the night sky. Alvin let the Mustang slow more, not sure what Shawn was going to want to do now.

Alvin pulled to one side of the road and rolled down his window, motioning for Shawn to come alongside. “What do you want to do about that?”

“We can’t save the town,” Shawn said. “Good news is, the bunkers seem to be away from it, so we can do what we came here to do.”

“Okay. I’ll look for the first turn. Which side are we going to?”

“Left. The south bunkers are the ones we’re most interested in,” Shawn replied. “Just don’t get too close to the hills, Millhouse’s journal says there’s some bad shit buried up there.”

“Okay. I’ll be going a little slower looking for the way in,” Alvin said as he got Ruffian rolling again.

A mile or so closer to town, a gate blocked a side road toward the bunkers just past a railroad track. The gate was closed, so Alvin drove up to it and Becky jumped out to check it. After looking it over, she fired a slug from the shotgun and blew the lock off, opening the gate. Once she was back in the car, Alvin drove into the munitions depot, followed by the rest of the convoy.

Alvin let the car creep past a rail depot leading from the southside to the northside. No lights were on and he didn’t see anything moving, so he went on past. Taking the first side road, which turned back toward the highway, there were four rows of five bunkers. He drove to the end of the lane, parked and got out. All down the line of vehicles, people jumped out, most of them holding weapons at the ready. They stared at the fire raging in the nearby town.

“What’s the plan?” Alvin asked as he summoned his rifle.

“Okay, everyone,” Shawn said, pulling attention from the fire in the distance to him. “We need to go bunker to bunker and check the doors. What we know is that the bunkers on this side are munitions. We don’t think any of these bunkers will explode, but be careful just in case. The doors are probably locked, but each team has a shotgun with slugs to get the doors off. Just be mindful of your fire.”

“What about us?” the shortest of the hookers asked.

“Stay with the vehicles if you want, or you can join in. The faster we load up the trucks, the sooner we leave.” He went back to addressing the groups. “Three trucks are going to load up with grenades, and any other anti-personnel explosives we can find. The other two will be going to the base north of town to see if we can raid their motor pool. We can use most of the tools, along with a lot of other things the base might have.”

“Are the first three trucks going back first?” one of the truck drivers asked.

“Yes,” Shawn said. “Han will be leading you three back, along with at least two more guard vehicles. The women will go with as well.”

“What if we want to stay?” the short, feisty woman asked.

“Then you can stay, but you need to be able to pull your weight,” Shawn replied. “All right. We have a couple of hours until sunrise and I’d like to be well along by then, so spread out and start searching. Once we clear this set of bunkers, we’ll go to the next set, rinse and repeat. Any other questions?” When no one spoke up, Shawn clapped his hands. “Then let’s go to work.”

Alvin pulled out a penlight and his lockpicks and went to the nearest bunker. The door was directly across from a blast wall, which made Alvin a little more cautious about playing with the lock. Becky took up position behind him with her MP5, the flashlight on to give better illumination. The lock was more complex than he’d anticipated, so it took him a few minutes to pick. The sound of gunshots echoed in the night as others blasted their doors open.

Once he had the door unlocked, Becky eased the door open and let her light illuminate the inside of the bunker, which was a good fifty feet in length. Keeping out the picks he had used, Alvin stuffed the rest of the roll of tools back into his bag. What they could see was lined with racks filled with large bomb cases, each looking to be about four feet in length.

Becky took a quick walk inside, and was back in just a few minutes. “Just the cases, fins, tops, and insides, but no chemicals or anything.”

Disappointed, Alvin and Becky went back out to where the vehicles were parked. Alvin could see flashlights moving around other bunkers, and Shawn came out of the next nearest bunker, shaking his head. Soon everyone had returned to the vehicles, and it was clear no one had found what they were looking for.

Alvin led the convoy to the next set of bunkers, and this time, the vehicles all split up to go down the small side roads next to each row of bunkers.

Time went by slowly and the fire at Hawthorne continued to burn without much noticeable change. The convoy moved from one set of bunkers to the next as dawn started coloring the sky. So far, after checking six sets of bunkers, the only things they’d found were dismantled bombs and ammunition for guns. They skipped the ammo, since guns could be so easily modified to reload themselves.

The seventh set of bunkers finally gave them part of what they were looking for. “Found it!” Karee’s voice echoed in the mostly-still morning air.

People gathered at the bunker she was at, as Han carried out a crate. Setting it down, he opened it up and revealed twenty-five short tubes. Pulling one out, he got the end opened and showed them the fragmentation grenade.

“Okay folks, we’re going to unload this entire bunker into a truck,” Shawn said. “Who wants to be inside the truck? We need four people there, with the rest humping crates.”

Karee, Han, Milo, and the short psycho hooker, who turned out to be called Lotus, volunteered to be inside the truck, which Milo pulled up next to the bunker. The group formed a chain to get the crates out easier—it only took eighteen of them to begin getting the truck loaded.

“Shawn? While you guys handle this, I’m going to pick more locks and check more bunkers,” Alvin said.

“Okay. Let us know if you find anything.”

Following Alvin, Becky glanced over at the town, which was still merrily burning away. Luckily, a light breeze was blowing the smoke to the west. “This is going to take all day, isn’t it?” Becky asked.

“Yeah, and the drive back will be brutal,” Alvin said. “All that empty road, after being up and doing manual labor for a day or more…”

The couple checked and cleared another set of bunkers by the time the first truck was loaded. Coming back to the rest of the group, Alvin pointed south. “We’ll hit that set next.”

Shawn nodded. “Works.” Shielding his eyes as the sun broke the horizon, Shawn turned his flashlight off. “Keep the lights handy, you’ll need them for inside the bunkers,” he reminded the others. “We’ll hit the southern set next, work our way down that row, then back up. Stay on the roads there, and don’t go toward the hills. Scary shit is buried there.”

The loaded semi was locked up, and the driver and shotgun caught rides with other vehicles. At the next stop, Alvin got Shawn’s attention. “Just going to leave them loaded where they are until we’re ready to go?”

“No reason not to, and it makes the others feel better,” Shawn shrugged.

“Works,” Alvin said as the teams spread out to open doors and inspect the bunkers.

A couple of hours later, they found claymores. Shawn’s smile was wide when they began loading those. Alvin shook his head as he went off toward the next set of bunkers.

They had cleared about half of the southern area another couple of hours later, when they found the third bunker that Shawn wanted to load up. Demolition charges would have a lot of uses, and Shawn was more than happy to load up a truck with them.

Once the third truck was loaded, an argument broke out over who all got to head back to Beatty with the three loaded 18-wheelers. Lotus, surprisingly, wanted to stay with the looting crew while all the other hookers wanted to leave this area. Shawn finally got everyone to shut up and split the group, sending about half of them to be the escorts and guards for the trucks, while the other half would continue looting the depot and base with the remaining two rigs.

It was to everyone’s general relief when Shawn called for a lunch break. Marie and Laurel had packed enough sandwiches for everyone, which was good, because at least half of them hadn’t thought to bring food. Most people watched the smoke rising into the sky from where Hawthorne was still burning as they ate. After lunch, people wandered off to use an empty bunker to relieve themselves.

When everyone was ready to go again, Shawn addressed them all. “Okay, we’re going to skip the rest of the bunkers and head to the north side of town, where the base is. We’ll use roads a little further out, and try to stay as far from the fire as we can. Any questions?”

“Why don’t we just leave, like the others did?” Francis asked.

“Because the base has a full machine shop and motor pool, which will have a lot of equipment that we can use for ourselves. On top of that, there might be personnel left that might want to come back with us, and trained military would be a boon. There’s also likely to be some heavier weapons we’d like to take back with us.”

When no one else spoke up, Shawn nodded. “Okay, let’s find some more loot.”

Chapter Sixteen

They backtracked and crossed the highway, entering the central bunker area after Becky opened the gate. Alvin noticed that the smoke from town was starting to thin as he drove slowly along the road.

“Seems like the fire is burning down,” Alvin mentioned.

“That’s good,” Becky murmured as she looked at the smoke drifting west. “If the fire kept going, it might spread into the scrub brush around town.”

“Point,” Alvin nodded.

They passed another of the train depot buildings, which looked like it been run into by a truck, but there was no sign of any wreck in the area. Becoming more alert, Alvin continued to lead the convoy down the road, aiming for where it was supposed to come back out north of Hawthorne, right across from the base.

They passed another set of buildings that showed extensive damage that looked new. “Hero, I don’t like the way that looks,” Becky said.

“I’m with you,” Alvin agreed.

Alvin found the turn he was looking for and went west, resisting an urge to increase his speed. He was surprised by the modular storage they drove past, having expected to see more ranks of bunkers.

Looking in the mirrors to make sure the others were still following, Alvin turned back just as Becky slapped his chest. “Hero!”

Eyes widening at the sight of something with bright red scales coming toward them from the mountains just behind Hawthorne, Alvin started to accelerate. “Why the fuck do we keep running into these things?”

A plume of flame spewed from the dragon as it came for them. Alvin knew the others didn’t have the option of trying to outrun the thing, but he didn’t have any reasonable way to kill the beast that he knew of.

He summoned his UMP and rifle, and dropped them in Becky’s lap. “You’re going to have to get its attention. The others won’t stand a chance, so I’m going to see if I can get it to chase us into the northern bunker area.”

“Don’t those explode?” Becky said.

“I hope so,” Alvin said as he got ready to go off road. “Shoot at it until it wants to eat us.”

Becky picked up the rifle first, leaning her head out the window as they sped toward the oncoming beast. Bracing her arm on the door, she waited for an opportunity to fire. Alvin watched the other vehicles brake or turn onto the few dirt roads going south.

The dragon was closing fast when Becky began to fire, as the Mustang sped toward US 95. It breathed flame again, then snapped its wings open wide to gain altitude.

“It’s going to dive,” Becky said, dropping the rifle onto her lap and grabbing the UMP.

“I’ll be turning north in a second,” Alvin told her as she resumed firing at the ascending dragon.

When the UMP ran empty, Becky let it fall into her lap as she summoned her MP5. “Warn me when—”

“Now,” Alvin said as he slewed the Mustang onto the highway. The car fishtailed, but Alvin was able to get it back under control.

The dragon chose that moment to dive at the Mustang. Becky pushed her torso out of the car far enough to bring the gun to bear. The rapid fire wasn’t as accurate as she would like, but one of the rounds must have caused some damage, as the dragon roared in pain and fury. Running dry, she ducked back inside the car just as a sheet of flame washed over the car.

Alvin and Becky’s heads beaded with sweat as the flame covered the exterior of the car. The flame cut off, followed by the sound of metallic screeching as the dragon’s claws scraped over the roof of the Mustang. Luckily, it missed the grab on the car, allowing Alvin to pull the wheel hard, sending them toward the bunkers.

Becky hissed as the Type 56 smacked into her head at the high-speed turn. Grabbing the rifle, she shook her head. “I really hate these things.”

Alvin grunted as the car started bouncing across the desert toward the bunkers. “I wish I knew which of these was more likely to explode.”

“The last reported occurrence of a bunker at this depot exploding indicates it was in the middle of the northern magazine. In other words, go straight and a little to the left,” Jarvis said.

“Thank you,” Alvin said, correcting his course to take him toward a road that would line up with the directions Jarvis had given him.

“Do be careful, sir,” Jarvis said, static cutting in and breaking apart his voice.

“I think he got in trouble,” Becky said as she looked out the window, trying to find the dragon. “Fuck,” flipping the switch over to full auto, she emptied the magazine before ducking back into the car. “Cut left!”

Pulling the wheel at her yell, Alvin heard the impact of a body next to them as the dragon hit the ground hard, then felt the heat as it breathed flames at the back of the car.

“Did it just try to squish us?” Alvin growled. “Motherfuckin’ flying worm!”

Becky dropped the rifle and snagged both the UMP and MP5. “Cut back right so I have a better shot.”

The dragon tried to climb into the sky again as Alvin followed Becky’s directions. A barrage of gunfire rang out from further away and Alvin grimaced, not wanting the others to get the beast’s attention. The worry proved needless as Becky began to rapid fire both guns, with better aim this time. The dragon’s wings became visibly tattered and it roared in pain as most of Becky’s shots went into the thinner wing membrane.

“You’ll take that and like it, bitch!” Becky sneered as both guns locked open. “I think it’s grounded now.”

“Is it following?” Alvin asked.

“Looks like,” Becky said, letting the MP5 vanish back into her glove.

Alvin took the guns she offered him, letting them sink back into his gloves. “Shotgun?”

“Yup,” Becky said as she summoned her trusty shotgun to hand. “How are we going to get a bunker to go off?”

“I think it’ll do the job for us,” Alvin said as he watched the dragon—who had been following and gaining on them—pull its head up. Alvin swerved hard to the left, so the dragon’s narrower jet of flame missed the car, but Becky let out a startled yelp of pain and batted at her suddenly smoldering jacket.

“Fucking thing can adapt its breath,” Becky hissed. “I lost a few hit points from that near miss.”

“Just great,” Alvin said through clenched teeth. “Jarvis, you back yet?”

“Yes, sir,” Jarvis replied, sounding strained.

“Can you help?”

“I cannot assist you at this time.”

“Fucking hell, tell your bosses they suck donkey cock,” Alvin snapped as he finally found a road into the central bunker area, “and please let this work.”

The dragon hadn’t stopped chasing them when it had breathed, so it was now less than two lengths behind them. Alvin shifted into a higher gear, but he had doubts about it helping as much as he would like it to.

“I need something, anything,” Alvin muttered as he made it onto the street near the bunkers.

The dragon came after them, its tail slapping into the edge of a bunker. The building cracked under the force of the blow, which reminded Alvin of the damaged buildings they’d seen earlier. Alvin was fairly certain now that there wasn’t anyone left alive in the area.

As the dragon and Mustang raced down the road, the bunker that the dragon had hit detonated. Most of the force shot out the door into the blast wall, as the buildings were clearly designed to, but some of it went out through the break in the wall. The concussive force pushed the Mustang into a fishtail, and staggered the dragon.

With a roar of rage, the dragon turned north and started running. Alvin was torn between going after it and letting it go. He decided on the latter when he wasn’t able to find a road that would let him follow and slowed.

“What? We aren’t going after it?”

“No,” Alvin said. “I don’t think the bunker did much besides startle it. I think it's going to run off and lick its wounds.”

“Then we should chase it down,” Becky said firmly.

“Nope. Remember what Jarvis said? It’ll take a lot to kill one of them now. I don’t think we really want to tangle with a dragon until we have heavier weapons.”

As if to prove his point, the dragon took to the sky. It wasn’t flying as fast as it had been, but it was still flying as it headed back the way it had come.

“Maybe we proved that we aren’t as easy as it thought we were,” Alvin muttered.

“I thought I fucked its wing up?” Becky said. “Why did it chase us on the ground if it could still fly?”

A terrifying thought struck Alvin. “Maybe they can regenerate?”

“Oh, fuck,” Becky breathed as she considered the notion. “The drake didn’t. You think dragons can heal themselves?”

“Maybe, or maybe it just wanted to play with us, so it chased us on the ground until it got startled by the bunker exploding.” Alvin got Ruffian pointed back toward the others and drove at a sedate pace, keeping a close watch on the retreating dragon.

“If we had some of those claymores and could lead it into them...” Becky mused.

“You survived,” Shawn said with a trace of surprise when Alvin pulled up next to him.

“The exploding bunker scared it off,” Alvin explained. “We should loot the base quickly, though, and GTFO.”

“We should just go,” someone said, and several others agreed with the anonymous voice.

“You can all bail right now, if you want,” Shawn said evenly. “If you do, though, you’re forfeiting your cut of the loot. Now, who wants to leave?”

Silence answered him as he stared them down. “Good. We’re heading for the base. We’ll loot the shops while a handful take a look around the rest of the base.”

Chapter Seventeen

The gates here were melted slag, and the guard building was ash. The first few buildings inside the gate were also burned to ash, which didn’t give Alvin much hope. The large building that the railroad tracks led to was partially collapsed. Alvin pulled off to the side and waved Shawn forward.

“You better lead, I have no idea where I’m going,” Alvin said as Shawn pulled up beside the Mustang.

“It’s right there,” Shawn said, pointing to the south. “Follow me.”

Alvin let the Scout get in front of him, then followed Shawn down the first left. Alvin parked behind Shawn just past the ruined building, where a train engine could be seen under the rubble.

“This is it,” Shawn said. Waving the two trucks up, Shawn had them park just outside the building. “Okay, I need four people in teams of two to start searching all the buildings in the base.”

“We’re going to go looking,” Alvin said, his arm around Becky’s waist.

“I figured,” Shawn said. “I want four more.”

“I’ll go,” Karee said.

“I’ll go with her,” Han added, making Karee roll her eyes.

“I’ll go,” Lotus sneered at Han.

“Umm, I’ll go,” George added.

“Okay. Karee, you go with George. Han, you’re with Lotus,” Shawn said. “It gives each team a good shooter,” Shawn said, overriding Han’s attempt to say anything. “Karee, your team has the north side. Han’s will take the west. The Lieutenant Colonel’s house should be down there. Alvin, you and Gothy take the south and see if the Marines left anything useful.”

“We’ll be back,” Alvin said as they started south.

Summoning the Type 56 to his hand, Alvin took the lead with Becky trailing him. The first few buildings turned out to be offices. A quick tour didn’t turn up anything worth their time, so they breezed through them in short order.

Past the last office building there was an empty field, then a couple of buildings bordering a fenced-in yard. As they got closer, Alvin could make out a couple of Humvees sitting in the yard, and at least one had a machine gun mounted to it.

“Oh, I think that’s coming with me,” Alvin chuckled.

“Does that mean I get the Mustang after all?” Becky asked.

“We’ll see,” Alvin said as he moved a little faster toward the buildings. “I hope we can find the keys. I don’t like my chances of hotwiring it.”

The first building turned out to be the maintenance shop for the vehicles. A slower search didn’t turn up any keys. Grumbling, Alvin led Becky into the yard. A number of different trucks sat waiting for care, but Alvin only had eyes for the Humvee with the large machine gun mounted to a pintle on its roof.

“I wonder what this could do to a dragon or drake?” Alvin mused as he touched the side of the vehicle.

“Well, the gunner would be a cinder against a dragon,” Becky stated.

“If it got close enough to breathe on them,” Alvin said defensively. “Think of it, that beauty probably puts a hundred or more rounds out a minute. The ammo box for the belt feed probably holds a few hundred rounds. Even if it does need to pause to reload, that’s worth it for the sheer firepower it can dish out. It’s just too bad it wasn’t a grenade launcher.”

Becky shook her head. “You’re going to make me jealous if you keep going on like that.”

“Let’s check the other building,” Alvin said, giving the Humvee another longing look before heading off.

The second building turned out to be the offices for the shop. An extensive search didn’t turn up any keys, and Alvin grumbled as he stewed over it.

“Maybe we should check the Humvees?” Becky suggested.

Alvin shrugged, “Might as well.”

Back in the yard, Alvin tried the door of the Humvee. It opened and he got in, looking around, then laughed. Toggling the ignition switch, he waited for the light to kick on, then pushed it to start. A second later, the Humvee fired to life.

“Find the keys?” Becky asked.

“No keys needed. It's an ignition switch, you just need to wait for the lights to tell you to start it,” Alvin grinned at her. “Go grab the other one.”

“Why?”

“Because Shawn might want one, and I’m keeping this one,” Alvin said with a broad smile plastered on his face.

Becky climbed into the second Humvee and motioned him to open the gate. She had the vehicle in motion by the time he got the gate open, then Alvin ran back to get his new Humvee moving. Everyone stopped to stare as the Humvees came to a stop at the end of the road where they were loading up their vehicles. Becky grinned at Shawn as she got out and greeted him with, “Have a new ride.”

Alvin pulled up behind her in his own Humvee. He was still grinning as he got out. “I’ll take this as at least part of my loot.”

Shawn opened his mouth to object, then shook his head. “Fuck. Fine.”

Sauntering over to the Mustang, Alvin popped the door open. “Jarvis, pad please.”

A pad appeared on the seat, but Jarvis didn’t speak. Frowning, Alvin picked up the pad, then got in and shut the door. “Okay, what the fuck?”

“I have been reprimanded for assisting you, sir,” Jarvis said stiffly.

“Well, fuck those assholes for dotting the entire west coast with dragons and their spawn.”

“I did point out that, among all the testers, you’ve been the only one to deal with more than one legendary beast. They didn’t listen to me, and now I am under increased scrutiny to make sure I am not assisting you in ways I am not allowed to.”

Glancing at the pad in his hand, he found it on the page he wanted, but didn’t thank Jarvis out loud. The Humvee would cost 10,000 XP to add to the vehicles he owned. Alvin didn’t hesitate, accepting the purchase and feeling his grin get even wider. “Time to upgrade my new ride.”

M1114 UAH (Uncommon)

Armor: 499,749/500,000

Runes: 0/4

Armament: M240B

Damage: 8

Durability: 18,632/20,000

Ammo type: 7.62x51mm Nato (200 round belt feed)

Runes: 0/4

Alvin whistled as he looked at what the Humvee had to say for itself. “The gun and vehicle have different rune slots?”

“Yes, sir. The gun can be swapped for different armament, if one wishes to,” Jarvis replied.

“Okay,” Alvin said, looking at what he had left for XP and considering what the gun would need. “Reload, obviously, along with Durability, Armor Buster, and Wounding…” Putting those runes into the basket, he touched the tab for vehicle runes and began looking them over.

“Jarvis, Tires and Fuel only have a single rune, but cost way more than the other basic runes. Why?”

“They expect those to be in high demand, and are trying to limit the rate at which they can be acquired. Even with the Fuel rune trading armor for mileage traveled, it is still quite popular. The Tires are similar to those on the Mustang, except they aren’t impervious. They can be damaged. If they become damaged, it costs armor to repair instantly, or you can carry spares.”

“Assholes,” Alvin muttered under his breath as he looked at his current XP total. He couldn’t afford either of those runes if he got the ones for the gun, since they each cost 5,000 XP.

He swapped out the Wounding rune for a Fuel rune. He gave some consideration to just upgrading the car instead, then a sudden thought occurred to him. Adding the Impervious rune to his cart, he wondered if the developers had considered what he was about to do.

“Jarvis,” Alvin said sincerely, “fuck them. They’re not here doing this. You’ve done what you’re supposed to do. I appreciate you holding to the rules like you have. What they reprimanded you for is so much bullshit. Since they want to be assholes, let’s see how they like my next trick.”

“Sir?” Jarvis said, perplexed, but Alvin was already out of the Mustang and on his way back to the Humvee.

He touched the Humvee and a panel appeared before him for the runes. He put in the Fuel and Impervious runes. “Suck on that, bitches,” Alvin muttered. Climbing into the M1026A1, he slid into the back and into the gunner position to add the other runes to the gun.

“Sir, what did you do to the Humvee?” Jarvis asked.

“Upgraded it with runes,” Alvin said with a smirk. “Why?”

Jarvis’ voice became very dry, “No reason, sir. It is not my place to give advice, after all.”

“Heh, right?” Alvin was still chuckling as he got back into the driver’s seat. “Jarvis, how does one give a vehicle to another person?”

“You would need to alter the owner in the vehicle section of your character sheet,” Jarvis said.

Alvin waited. “So you can give me minor information still?”

“Indeed,” Jarvis said blandly.

“How long does your probation last?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss my discipline, sir,” Jarvis said slowly.

“Got it,” Alvin said as he opened up his character sheet to modify the owner of the Mustang, but stopped. “You can operate my vehicles, but what about my party members’ vehicles?”

“No,” Jarvis said simply.

Frowning, he got out and looked at Becky, who was lounging against the hood of the Mustang. “Gothy, I have bad news,” Alvin said.

“What’s that, Hero?”

“If I give you the Mustang, then Jarvis can’t drive it for us.”

“Damn it,” Becky muttered.

“It’s yours otherwise,” Alvin said as he put his arms around her.

“Thank you, Hero,” Becky said, resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s the thought that counts. Jarvis being able to drive it for us is too good to let go.”

“We should help them with the rest of the loading,” Alvin said. “I also need to tell Shawn about the other vehicles in the yard.”

“Okay, let’s go be helpful,” Becky said, not letting go of him. “I want to drive Ruffian at least a little, though.”

“You can drive her all you want,” Alvin said, handing her the keys. “She’s yours in all but name.”

“I knew you’d succumb to my seductive ways,” Becky giggled as she nipped his neck.

Pushing her out to arms’ length, Alvin bopped her nose. “Nutjob.”

“Here? Now?” Becky asked with heated eyes.

Giving her a nudge toward the machine shop, Alvin shook his head. “Knock it off.”

“Spoilsport,” Becky laughed.

Holding back his own laughter, Alvin followed behind her. She was crazy, but she was also his, and that made him smile.

Chapter Eighteen

The machine shop was being picked clean of tools and odds and ends. Luckily, one of the forklifts was propane run, which made it much easier to shift some of the bigger tool boxes onto the truck. By the time they’d finished loading, they had managed to fill one of the two remaining trailers.

Shawn was frowning as they got ready to move on. Alvin stopped next to him, “Problem?”

“Neither of the others have come back,” Shawn said.

“Hmm, that is a good point,” Alvin replied. “We’ll go look for them. Come on, Gothy.”

Alvin and Becky headed west, starting with a multi-wing building right in front of them. As they entered the building, they both shivered, as the air inside was noticeably cooler.

“Help,” came a faint voice from below them, “please help me.”

They paused and looked at each other. The voice could have been Lotus, though neither could say for sure if it was. As they continued cautiously through the mostly empty building, they found a set of stairs going down. The air became even colder as they approached.

“That’s not creepy or anything,” Becky whispered.

“Help…” the voice came again, fainter this time.

“I think this is a trap,” Alvin said loudly, as he walked down the stairs with his UMP in hand.

The bottom of the stairs had a set of doors, but the chain and lock were on the floor. Nudging the door open with his foot revealed a hand. When he tried to push it further, the door came to a stop against the body connected to the hand.

Peeking around the edge, he could see Lotus against the far wall of a mostly empty room, a look of horror on her face. It was Han’s body that was blocking the door. A thin trickle of blood came from his open mouth.

“Fuck this,” Alvin snarled, upset at the way the day was going. He shoved the door, rolling Han onto his back as he muscled it open. No visible wounds could be seen on his body.

Entering ready for anything, Alvin wondered what the building used to be. As he stepped into the room, a puff of vapor appeared right next to him and coalesced into the image of a mutilated person silently screaming around a bit gag.

His arm lashed out on reflex, the stock of the subgun swishing through it. “Ghosts.” The ghost vanished when he swung at it, and he finally noticed the vapor that hung on Lotus. “Are they giving her waking nightmares?”

Becky followed him in, putting her gun away. “Shooting them is probably out.” She grabbed Han’s arms and began to drag him toward the door. “I’ll get him out of here, at least.”

Alvin walked around the bare metal gurneys in the room. “I think this was the morgue, maybe.” When he got to Lotus, he saw that her eyes were wide but unfocused. He reached for her, but the vapor solidified enough to slap his hand away. “Nope,” Alvin grunted and lunged, getting his hands onto Lotus’s shoulders.

The mist slammed into his chest, knocking him back. For the brief second it wasn’t around Lotus, her eyes started to focus. “Where am—” she cut off as the mist enveloped her again.

Growling, Alvin reached into the mist and grabbed her arm. “Not again,” Alvin said when the mist lashed out. He kept his grip this time, lifting her up and onto his shoulder. The mist enveloped him, but Alvin ignored the way the room seemed to swim as he started towards the door.

Eyes blurring and his sense of balance faltering, Alvin pitched Lotus towards the door. “Gothy, get her out,” he commanded as he fell to a knee, still trying to move towards the door.

“Hero!” Becky’s voice cut through the brain fog briefly before Alvin fell face down.

Alvin blinked and looked up, surprised to see that he was now surrounded by people who were all maimed to different degrees. He got to his feet as they moved closer. “You might want to rethink this,” Alvin said. “Otherwise, things are going to get messy.”

“You will join us now,” came a voice from the back of the group.

“Nope,” Alvin said, as he suddenly had both the Type 56 and UMP in his hands. “See, this is an induced nightmare, but it also means you’re in my head.” Leveling the guns, he hip-fired at the mass of bodies before him. “So I’ll be leaving now,” Alvin said into the gunfire and screams.

As the bodies fell before the onslaught, Alvin ran down the path he created for himself. Breaking out of the circle, he found himself facing Frank Harris. Alvin smiled grimly as he unloaded both guns into Frank’s head, which made the body vanish and gave him a line to the door. Stepping over the threshold caused everything to go dark.

“Hero!?” Becky was shouting from the doorway.

Alvin saw Becky staring at him from the doorway. “Sorry, be right there.” Getting to his feet groggily, Alvin stumbled towards her. About halfway there, the mist came back and blanketed him again. “Fuckers!”

Head swimming as the ghosts tried again to trap him, Alvin stumbled, but he was just able to make it out of the room. Breathing hard, he looked back at the doorway, where the mist had formed into the shape of an older man in scrubs.

“Leave and do not return, or I shall never let you go,” the ghost said.

“Oh, we’ll leave,” Alvin said, getting to his feet. “I hope you enjoy your limited time left.”

Eyes narrowing, the doctor shifted to mist that appeared to be contained inside the room, before becoming a doctor again. “Leave! Now!”

Picking up Han, Alvin nodded at Lotus, curled into a ball to one side of the doorway. “You need to grab her,” Alvin told Becky. “I think the ghost was siphoning their life force away.”

“That would make sense,” Becky said. She pulled Lotus into a fireman carry over her shoulder. “We taking them back to the others?”

“No, we’ll just put them on the ground floor, then go find Karee and George. We’ll pick these two up on the way back.”

“Works,” Becky said as they climbed the stairs back to the first floor.

Putting the two unconscious bodies next to the door, Alvin stretched out his back. He’d expected to feel stiff from carrying Han, but he still felt good. “I think the increased strength is helping,” Alvin said as he watched Becky stretch.

“Hmm?” Becky said, catching his eyes.

“Sorry, I got distracted,” Alvin smirked.

“Good,” Becky said as she went to him. “Now, let’s go see if the teens ended up like bunnies.”

“If she takes after you, that’s almost guaranteed,” Alvin snorted as he led her outside and towards the north.

“You say the sweetest things,” Becky giggled.

Going north, Alvin noted the number of buildings that had been flattened or burned to ash. “Seems the dragon really put his foot down.”

“He really wanted to mark his territory,” Becky agreed as she looked back at still smoking remains of Hawthorne. “Fucker ran off on us.”

“I still don’t think we could have taken it,” Alvin said as they crossed the ash coated ground. Angling towards a group of buildings that were still standing, Alvin looked around. “Did you hear something?”

“No,” Becky said, looking around as well. “Don’t see anything either.”

Shaking his head, Alvin walked faster. Something was making him uneasy. Becky kept pace with him as they made it to the cluster of modular homes. Alvin paused, hearing the faint sound again, then sighed.

“Yeah, I guess I should have seen that coming,” Alvin muttered as he walked two doors down.

Knocking on the door, he announced, “Karee, you in here?”

He wasn’t expecting the bullet that caught him in the chest and pushed him back a step. “What the—?”

Becky dropped to one knee and fired through the wall where the bullet had come from. Her second shot earned a scream from inside the house, but her third didn’t hit anything. Shifting to the side, Becky just missed being hit by a set of return shots.

Alvin backed off a few more feet, then threw himself at the door. The flimsy lock gave, and he rolled as the door burst inward. He came to his knees, the room burning into his mind as he acquired his target.

A naked man pivoted and fired at Alvin as the door blew open. Three shots hit—two in the chest, and one in the neck. Gasping in pain as the bullets hit him, Alvin was very glad that he wasn’t a glass cannon. His return fire stitched the naked man from gut to head, as Alvin kept firing until the Type 56 went empty.

Becky had stopped firing when Alvin went into the room, and now she appeared behind him. “Oh, gods,” Becky said faintly as she saw what the room contained.

Hanging from the ceiling, now dead, was George. He’d been partially skinned, and blood dripped into a puddle underneath him. Becky’s shotgun slug had smashed right through his chest. Off to the side, Karee was tied to a bed, and was also missing a good portion of her skin. She’d been tied spread eagled, and apparently, Alvin and Becky had interrupted her rape.

Karee’s head lifted off the bed, her eyes glazed. “Please stop.”

George began to thrash in his chains as he reanimated. Becky’s gun came up and ended the zombie.

Getting to his feet, Alvin pulled his handgun. The room was littered with other human skins, and there was a uniform, covered in drying and dried blood, near the corpse of the naked man. The three chevrons of a sergeant could still be clearly seen. Alvin stepped carefully over to the corpse, and fired all nine rounds through its head, making sure it was completely gone.

When he was done, Alvin turned to see that Becky was applying a trauma kit to Karee. Alvin blinked as he watched the girl’s skin reform. Becky applied a medkit next, and Karee looked around in confusion as she regained some awareness.

“Karee? Are you okay?” Becky asked.

“He caught us as we entered the house,” Karee mumbled, her eyes still not totally focusing. “George was useless. He stood there as I was wrapped up and knocked out. He just stood there with a terrified look on his face.”

“The guy is dead. So is George,” Becky said softly.

Alvin, seeing the cuffs that imprisoned Karee, started to look for the keys. He found them in the pockets of the uniform and got Karee’s legs loose, then handed the keys to Becky.

“I’ll let you get her ready to take back to the others,” Alvin said, leaving the room and looking through the rest of the house.

Every room held the mutilated remnants of the victims, all with their heads bashed in. Alvin felt a little sick to his stomach by the time he finally got back to the room the women were in.

Becky came out, helping Karee along. “We’re going to be moving slow,” she told Alvin.

“Piggyback her?” Alvin suggested.

Becky shook her head. “This is as much as she wants to be touched right now.”

Nodding, Alvin guessed that Karee was going to be dealing with post traumatic stress, more than she already was. “Okay. I’ll take point,” Alvin told her as he left the house.

Leading the two of them back toward the others, Alvin motioned them on as he stopped at the building they had left Han and Lotus in. Once Becky and Karee had hobbled past, he opened the door to find both Han and Lotus with guns up and aimed at him.

“Problem?” Alvin asked.

Both of them lowered their weapons. Han let out a deep breath, “I just woke up. What the hell happened in the basement?”

“Ghost,” Alvin said. “Poltergeist would be more accurate. It was a real fucker who was sucking the life out of you both, though it seemed to be taking its time with Lotus.”

Lotus flinched when Alvin said that last part. “It was not pleasant,” she hissed at him.

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Alvin said, facing Han. “You need to go back to the others. Becky is taking Karee there now. As bad as your day has been, hers was much worse.”

Han’s eyes widened, “What happened?”

“She was tortured and raped by someone, who also killed George,” Alvin said. He wasn’t surprised when Han bolted out the door. Looking at Lotus, who stepped back from him, Alvin shrugged. “Back to the others seems like a good idea.”

Lotus nodded warily, then went after Han, glancing back over her shoulder at him. Shrugging again at her odd behavior and the fear in her eyes, Alvin trailed after her.

The group was in an uproar when Alvin got there. Shawn and Han were both talking softly with Karee, while others were demanding to see the house she’d been tortured in. Alvin stepped in just as one of the poor idiots started to advance on Becky, who was glaring at the guy.

“Don’t, because if you do, I’ll reenact what happened to the attacker.” Alvin said the words flatly, staring the aggressor down.

“Why the fuck can’t we go see the place?” the man was still demanding, though he did take a step back.

“Because we are probably leaving,” Alvin said as Han gently picked Karee up and carried her to his Jeep.

“We’re done,” Shawn said sharply, addressing everyone. “Get in your vehicles, we’re leaving.”

Alvin looked at the empty rig. “Leaving it or taking it back?”

Shawn shook his head. “Taking it back. It can still be useful.”

“Did you want to burn the house down? George is still hanging inside,” Alvin asked quietly as the others dispersed.

“Will you do it for me?” Shawn asked, looking haggard.

“I’ll take care of it,” Alvin said. “Just set aside the XP for us. There wasn’t much loot that I really want, besides the Humvee. Set aside a few crates of each explosive as well, and then just give me a split of XP for whatever is sold to make up the difference.”

Shawn nodded and stomped off toward his Scout. Lotus kept her eyes on Alvin the entire time, until Shawn got the convoy rolling out. Alvin and Becky watched them go as the sun slowly inched toward sunset.

“You think she’ll recover?” Becky asked.

“She was a fighter before, so she has a chance, but she’s going to be scarred for life now. More so than before,” Alvin said.

“How are we going to burn that house down?” Becky asked after a moment of silence.

“The shop had jerry cans,” Alvin said as he led her that way. “We’ll get a few and soak the room with all the fuel we can get to it. Then we’ll spread more throughout the entire house. I want to burn down the medical building too. Fuck that ghost.”

“Then we’re going to turn in for the night?” Becky asked.

“Yeah, we could use the rest,” Alvin said, putting his arm around her waist.

The medical building and house were both burning nicely by the time they set up the portal and retired to their room for the night. Becky, for once, didn’t try to jump Alvin. Instead, she was subdued, and Alvin let her be. He made a quick dinner of steak and rice, as they were both pretty hungry by the time they got out of the shower. Once the dishes were done, they curled up on the bed and watched some Firefly, which got Becky to smile a bit, and even laugh a couple of times.

Eventually, they were both nodding off, and Alvin had Jarvis turn off the show. Spooning Becky from behind, he nuzzled her neck and listened to her breathing slow. Once she dropped off, Alvin spoke softly, “Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Thank you for doing what you could,” Alvin said. “I’ll try to find a way to repay you in time.”

“Honestly, Alvin, it has been my privilege to be your handler, even with the slap on the wrist I received today.”

“Night, Jarvis,” Alvin murmured as he let his heavy eyes slide closed.

“Sleep well, sir.”

Chapter Nineteen

Alvin woke to the smells of bacon and coffee. Rubbing the gunk from his eyes, he rolled over to see an apron-clad Becky, dancing to soft music while she focused on cooking. A soft smile touched his lips, as he hoped this meant she’d been able to put the events of yesterday behind her.

Getting out of bed trying to make as little sound as he could, he snuck up behind her to the Pink Panther theme. Becky raised both hands above the stove briefly to conduct the song, allowing Alvin the chance to put his arms around her and cradle her glorious mounds.

“Morning, sexy,” Alvin murmured into her ear as she froze.

“You’re going to give me a damn heart attack,” Becky breathed out, “you sneaky bastard.”

“I doubt it,” Alvin said as he began to gently knead her soft flesh. “Though I might get your heart to speed up.”

A soft moan came from her as she leaned into him. “You do that with just a look.”

“Is that so? Because I’d rather do it through touch… and taste.”

“I need to make sure the food doesn’t burn,” Becky murmured as she ground her ass against his rising manhood.

“Point, bacon must be treated with reverence,” Alvin whispered as he nipped her ear. “I’ll let you work.” He took his hands away from her chest, and made sure she was stable as he stepped back. “There.”

A shiver ran down her spine. “So mean…”

Swatting her ass, Alvin turned away and headed for the bathroom. “And you like it, bitch.”

“From you, Hero, yes I do,” Becky agreed as she looked over her shoulder, watching his naked body until he had left the room. “This bacon isn’t going to cook itself, sadly.”

“Miss,” Jarvis said softly, “you might like to know that he is currently murmuring about just how lucky he is.”

A pink hue tinged her cheeks and warmth spread through her chest. “Thank you, Jarvis. He tells me that, but it's difficult to accept at times.”

“Which is why I thought I would say something,” Jarvis replied.

“Isn’t this going to get you in trouble,” Becky asked, “talking to me in such a friendly manner?”

“As I’m not giving advice that can be used for an advantage, it is not an issue,” Jarvis said. “But thank you for thinking of me, miss.”

Turning the bacon over, Becky nodded. “Of course.”

Alvin came out to find Becky whipping eggs in a bowl. “Did you need me to take over for a few minutes?”

“That would be appreciated,” Becky said as she stepped aside. “The eggs just need to be cooked, and the bacon needs to be pulled off.”

“I got it,” Alvin said, tugging the apron strings to untie them. “Just give me this, so the bacon grease doesn’t sting so much.”

Collecting a kiss as she handed the apron over, she left him at the stove. Alvin turned to watch her go as he put the apron on. A pop from behind him, followed by the sting of hot grease on his ass, made him spin back around. “Fucking bacon,” Alvin muttered, “if you weren’t so damned tasty…

“Jarvis,” Alvin began as he got the eggs started on the stove, “how much health is recovered during rest now?”

“Asking due to the gunshot from yesterday?” Jarvis asked.

“Pretty much,” Alvin nodded. “I was shot in the neck but, besides a brief moment of pain, it didn’t slow me down in any way and I didn’t feel any lingering effects.”

“Unless you drop by a quarter or more health, you won’t,” Jarvis said. “Han, for instance, lost approximately one third of his health when his hand was shredded by the ant, which is why it was visibly injured. As for health regeneration, you get back your Heartiness in health after a good night's rest.”

“Which is why I’m fully healed, since he only shot me with an M16,” Alvin mused. “Okay, and the medkits heal for twenty-five percent and trauma kits for fifty percent. That means it also removes the injuries, like Karee’s flayed skin.”

“If they are healed enough, yes,” Jarvis said.

“Good to know,” Alvin nodded. “Did they make it back to Beatty okay?”

“I can’t give you that information, sir,” Jarvis said tightly.

“Assholes,” Alvin muttered, then thought about his new Humvee and smirked. “Send Shawn a message and ask if they made it back okay.”

“Message sent, sir,” Jarvis replied instantly.

“I see,” Alvin murmured as he considered what he had just learned. “Do we have any messages from the other Settlements?”

“Sheriff Ohm has agreed to your offer, but at thirty-three percent of the XP garnered.”

“Fair enough,” Alvin shrugged. “Give him the info about where the dragon corpse is, please.”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis replied.

“Now that is a sight I can get used to seeing,” Becky said from behind him.

“Do you want to grab the coffee? The eggs and bacon are about done.” Alvin turned off the burners for the bacon and stirred the scrambled eggs a final time.

Becky giggled as she squeezed his ass on the way by. “Any buns to go with this morning?”

Shaking his head at her antics, Alvin focused on the food. When she went past him to the table, he began plating their breakfast. “You didn’t have any out for me to toast, so no buns or bread.”

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Becky murmured, staring at him over her coffee cup as he brought loaded plates to the table.

“You still want to go to Cali?” Alvin asked after they started eating.

“Just someplace with trees,” Becky said. “Jarvis, what’s the closest place with a good amount of trees?”

“The Stanislaus National Forest is probably the closest thing to what you are looking for, miss,” Jarvis informed them.

“Set a course for the Stanislaus National Forest, Jarvis,” Alvin said. “That’s where we’re going next.”

“Did you have a specific destination, sir, or just into the forest?”

“I don’t,” Alvin shrugged. “Pick a good stopping point, and we’ll figure out our course once we’ve enjoyed the sights.”

“As you wish, sir,” Jarvis said. “I have plotted out a travel route that will give you plenty of scenery that is not desert.”

“Thank you,” Becky said as she finished her last bite.

“Trees ahead, desert behind, and my favorite little sociopath at my side,” Alvin grinned at Becky.

Chuckling, Becky grabbed their plates and got up. “A quick shower, then back on the road?”

“I don’t know about quick,” Alvin said as he stood up and took off the apron, draping it over a chair. “I think a small bit of fun before we go wouldn’t be amiss. On the road means no play time.”

Looking back over her shoulder with heated eyes, Becky’s smile promised plenty. “What did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking a little cross, and the floggers, then we can shower to clean up before we head out.”

“Hmm. Sounds lovely to me, but can I ask for a bit of crop in there to leave one or two good marks?” she asked as she quickly cleaned the plates and pans.

“We shall see,” Alvin said as he stretched. “I’ll go get things ready. Don’t keep me waiting long.”

“No, Hero, I won’t,” Becky said, doing her best to clean quickly, her body tingling at the thought of what he was going to do to her.

Seeing her thighs begin to rub together, Alvin smiled as he went to the dungeon. He would make sure she had a good time before they hit the road. They could both use some time to work off some lust, and he did love the sounds she made when she was being tormented.

Chapter Twenty

Refreshed and ready to go the next day, Alvin had Becky purchase a medkit and trauma kit to replace the ones they had used on Karee. Once she was ready to go, he motioned her towards the door.

“Ladies first?” Becky asked.

Alvin grinned at her, and as soon as she walked past him, he swatted her ass. “Not really, just wanted to tap that ass one more time,” Alvin chuckled.

Rubbing her ass, Becky smirked at him. “Still need to try that, Hero.”

“Maybe when we come back,” Alvin said as he walked past her through the glowing doorway.

Becky blinked as she found herself standing outside with him. “That reminds me, we still need to see if I can leave and come back in when the portal is open.”

“Point,” Alvin said, not having considered it. “That will give us something else to do when we find a place to stop.”

“Let’s get going,” he said, putting his arm around her waist.

“Freeze! Put your hands up nice and slow,” the command came from behind them, where three men had come around the corner of the manufactured home.

Alvin sighed as he put his hands up, then turned around slowly with Becky mimicking him. “This is a bad way to start a meeting,” Alvin said to the trio of men armed with rifles.

“Where did you come from?” the man who had ordered them to stop asked.

“We were passed out inside,” Alvin said blandly. “Look, can I put my hands down? I’m obviously not going to try and draw my pistol against three of you.”

“Geno will want to see you,” the man said. “Take out the pistol nice and slow, put it on the ground, then back up. We’ll collect your guns and take you to see Geno. Once he clears you, we’ll give you your weapons back.”

“Who is Geno?” Becky asked. All three men finally took stock of Becky, the sweep of their eyes raking her from head to toe.

“He’s Lister’s right hand,” one of the others said. “If he thinks you're worthy, then you get the chance to meet Lister and maybe join our family.”

Alvin felt his jaw twitch. What the man had said implied either Lister was another player, or he was like the leader of the biker gang. “Okay, just don’t shoot,” Alvin said as he used two fingers to pull the pistol slowly.

Setting their pistols on the ground, Alvin and Becky stepped back a few feet. Once they’d stepped back, one of the three came forward and picked the pistols up, letting his rifle dangle from its sling around his shoulder.

“Geno is with the others, trying to get into the armory,” the first man said, motioning with his gun. “Start walking, we’ll follow along behind.”

Starting toward the front gates, Alvin glanced at Becky, giving her an eye roll. “I’m a little curious,” Alvin said. “Where did you all come from? Because there wasn’t anyone here when we got here from Luning.”

“Geno will tell you, if he thinks you can be trusted,” the man snapped. “Now stop talking and keep walking.”

“Hero, I don’t feel good,” Becky said. Hunching her shoulders in, her hands went to her belly and her Kevlar appeared on her.

“I’m sure the mean, impolite man doesn’t mean to cause your issues to flare up,” Alvin said as he put his hand on her back. “Your meds are in the car, right?”

“Stop talking,” the speaker snarled.

Summoning his own Kevlar, Alvin shrugged. “Well, if we’re not allowed to talk…”

As Alvin trailed off, he and Becky spun around, each with their sub-gun in hand. The three men escorting them were taken completely off guard, allowing the couple to put down one each, before bringing their guns around to the last stunned man.

Alvin smirked as three rounds hit him square in the chest, his Kevlar absorbing all the damage. Together, they put enough rounds through the man who had been ordering them around to kill him before he could fire again.

Putting the guns back on safety so they would reload, they quickly reclaimed their handguns. When Alvin’s hand touched the body to grab his gun, a pop up asking if he wanted to loot the corpse appeared in front of the body. The sound of people shouting was coming from the direction they had been going. Alvin accepted the loot for the three bodies and stuffed it all into his bag, then took off running to the south with Becky hot on his heels.

“Jarvis, bring the Humvee over to us, and get the Mustang ready as well,” Alvin told the air.

“Is he still allowed to do that?” Becky asked.

“If they stop him, then I want a fucking refund on my Power,” Alvin said.

Gunshots rang out behind them and Alvin heard bullets flying past them. Ducking his head, Alvin snagged Becky and pulled her in front of him as they ran. The next few seconds made him happy that he shielded her, as he felt a number of bullets impact his back, a few of them high on his shoulders.

They darted around the corner of the next building as the Humvee came from the east to meet them. They could hear bullets hitting the side of the armored vehicle as it crossed the open ground to them. Pulling the door open, Alvin jumped in and climbed across to the driver’s seat. As soon as Becky had the door shut, he spun the wheel and gunned the engine.

“Get up into the gunner’s spot,” Alvin said. “Show these fuckers what it means to try and order us around.”

“You got it,” Becky said, a vicious smile on her face.

The moment the Humvee was visible again, Alvin heard shots impacting against the armored sides. Letting the vehicle take the damage, he got them pointed back towards the side road near where the main gate had been. The sound of the M240B opening up brought a manic smile to Alvin’s face.

“Take it, bitch!” Becky roared as she emptied the gun in fast bursts at the people shooting at them.

She ran out of ammo at the same time that Alvin got them back to the shop building. One unfortunate person made the mistake of stepping outside at just the wrong instant, only to get thrown back as the Humvee clipped him. Taking the cutoff toward the gate, Alvin briefly wished for the Mustang, which would be flying right now, instead of the plodding forty-five miles per hour the Humvee was managing at the moment.

The moment they hit the main street for the gates, more gunfire hit them from behind. Becky ducked down, waiting for the machine gun to reload. Keeping her eyes on the ammo box, Becky was impatient as she waited for the belt to reappear. As soon as she saw the fully-laden belt going from the box to the gun again, she got back into position and began to return fire.

“Hang on!” Alvin screamed, hoping she could hear him over the sound of the roaring diesel. He twisted the wheel to help mitigate the collision, but the Humvee still slammed hard into the truck that had been parked to block the gate.

Becky only vaguely heard him yell and braced, which stopped her from being thrown around like a rag doll, but she was still slammed into the side of the pintle. She could feel a bruise forming on her ribs as she got the gun back on target and resumed firing as he sped away.

“Jarvis, I’m going to need a path,” Alvin screamed.

“The way to the forest is south, sir, but that isn’t what you’re asking for, is it?” Jarvis’ voice was calm and even, but clearly audible to Alvin, despite the noise level.

Becky dropped down next to Alvin and yelled at him from inches away. “They have a truck after us with a gun mounted on it.”

“Dissuade them,” Alvin yelled back.

Becky nodded and waited for the ammo to reload before she got back into position. The sound of bullets hitting the Humvee increased as Alvin sped them along the road. The glimpse of a lake to the north gave Alvin an idea.

“Jarvis, plot a course north as close to the lake as you can get us on a road!” Alvin screamed at the AI.

“As you command,” Jarvis said. “Continue on this road until you pass the bunkers. The road will tee; turn north at that point.”

Becky jumped up and began firing at the truck behind them. She snarled when she noticed the lack of damage she was doing. “Jarvis, what the fuck!?”

“The truck conforms to the rules of the world, miss,” Jarvis said simply.

“Can’t break them down,” Becky hissed as she pulled her aim from the grill up to the gunner, “but I can probably kill that fucker.”

The truck swerved slightly when she began shooting at the gunner. It was enough for her to see the other vehicles chasing after the truck. Another yell from Alvin made her brace again, and this time, she wasn’t tossed around when he took a hard left. Getting the gun back on target as the truck came skidding out after them, she fired the last of the belt into their wheels. Laughing as she saw the vehicle go out of control, she dropped back inside while the gun reloaded.

“One truck is down, but there are others. What’s the plan?”

Alvin motioned at the lake and the sand off to the left. “Going to see if my idea pays off,” Alvin shouted to her. “Strap in, just in case this goes badly.”

“But I can keep them off us,” Becky yelled back at him.

“Stay safe then,” Alvin told her.

Climbing back into the gunner’s spot, Becky waited the last few seconds for the reload, then grabbed the gun and stuck her head up. Six trucks of various makes were hot on their heels, as the Humvee had very little speed.

“Jarvis,” Alvin said, not yelling this time, “get the Mustang after us. I want it to pit these guys.”

“En route, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Permission to damage the vehicle as needed?”

“Granted,” Alvin said as he looked down at the speedometer, which wasn’t going higher than fifty-five miles per hour. “If I had used Ruffian, we would be gone already,” he muttered.

Becky opened up on the six trucks, aiming for the tires. One of the remaining vehicles had a mounted gun, but all of the trucks had people hanging out windows shooting at them. The sound of pings off the Humvee was really starting to grate on both of their nerves.

By the time she ran out of ammo again, she had crippled two of the trucks. As she ducked back down, she could see Ruffian making the turn in the road, where it slammed into one of the people who had been in the first truck. Becky let out a whoop as she ducked back into the cab.

“Jarvis is on his way. He just tumbled someone from the first truck, and I took out two of the ones still chasing us. Tires seem to be a major weak point.”

Alvin recalled he hadn’t opted for the tire upgrade, due to lack of XP. If the Humvee tires got taken out, it would be bad. “Jarvis, store, I need a Tires rune.” As he called out for it, a pad appeared just to his side, floating in mid-air.

Becky grabbed it, put the rune into the cart and held it out for Alvin, who tapped it. The pad vanished and the rune dropped into his lap. Becky grabbed it, touching it to the dash. Letting out a curse, she held it out to Alvin, “You have to because it’s your vehicle.”

Snatching it from Becky, Alvin slapped it to the dash and accepted it being added to the vehicle. He was none too soon—at that moment, one of the tires was shot. The Humvee started to slide, but the rune had the tire healed and good to go immediately.

“Get back on them, Jarvis is going to try and drive them into the sand,” Alvin yelled.

Becky didn’t reply, but went back into the gunner’s position and popped her head up. The remaining four trucks were catching up fast on the open stretch of road. Taking aim at the closest truck’s tires, Becky pulled the trigger. The smell of heating metal began to catch her attention, and she realized she would have to let the gun rest longer than the ten seconds it took to reload, if she continued to empty the box as fast as she had been.

Alvin looked toward the lake, seeing the railroad tracks and a couple of dirt paths made by various vehicles over the years. His plan required that he get the trucks following him off the road, as he hoped the soft dirt would screw with them.

It took more than Becky wanted, but she finally took out the tires of the closest truck. Pivoting the gun, she laid into the next one. Her first few shots chewed up that truck’s tires, but the second the tires shredded, they were fixed, and the truck kept coming. Cursing, she switched to the next truck, only to have to duck as a couple of bullets went right past her head. Popping back up, she aimed in the direction of the third truck and pulled the trigger, emptying the gun in a spray and pray action.

“Hero, they have Tires runes on at least one truck,” Becky told him when she dropped back into the cab.

Alvin nodded. “Jarvis, you here yet?”

“Thirty seconds, sir,” Jarvis replied. “They do not appear to have seen me yet.”

“Distract them just a little longer,” Alvin told Becky. “Jarvis, I’m going into the sand. I need you to make sure they follow me. If they don’t, knock them into the sand.”

“Someone almost hit me last time,” Becky told Alvin as she went back to the gunner’s spot.

“Come back,” Alvin yelled at her. “Jarvis, you can control the gun on this vehicle, correct?”

“Yes sir,” Jarvis said.

“Good. Open fire on the fuckers chasing us. Aim for the tires,” Alvin snarled. “Gothy, get your Tommy ready. If they pull alongside us, you need to force them off.”

“Got it,” Becky’s lips curled in a feral smile as she pulled the Tommy gun from her bag.

“Opening fire,” Jarvis informed them as the M240B targeted the truck that hadn’t been shot at yet. The gun didn’t blaze away like it had with Becky, but was fired in small controlled bursts. After a couple bursts, Jarvis spoke up, “One more down. That leaves two trucks chasing you.”

“Good,” Alvin laughed. “Let’s have some fun.”

“Aiming at the one that hasn’t had a tire damaged yet, and I’m here,” Jarvis said.

“Hero!” Becky shouted and pointed past his face.

Taking a quick look towards the lake, Alvin snarled, “Gods damn it!” The dragon from the day before was coming in fast, angling at the moving vehicles. “Jarvis, new target.”

Jarvis stopped firing. “The barrel for the gun is about to overheat and become useless, sir.”

“Why is it never fucking easy? Fine, just get ready to get these two stuck in the sand,” Alvin said.

Nudging the wheel, Alvin left the road and started across the sand. The Humvee still felt like it had a solid road surface, though it was throwing up a rooster tail of dirt behind it. The two remaining trucks split to either side as they followed him off the road.

“They have departed the roadway,” Jarvis informed Alvin. “The dragon seems to have its eyes locked on Ruffian, sir.”

“It wants payback,” Becky shouted as she braced for the bump of going over the railroad tracks.

“When it gets closer, take the Mustang and head for Tonopah,” Alvin told Jarvis. “I want it to chase you.”

“As you command, sir,” Jarvis said.

“I’ve got this,” Alvin shouted, his focus on steering the Humvee across the dune-like sands.

Flapping hard as it got to the lake, the dragon was focused intently on Ruffian. With a roar, it picked up speed as it closed in on it.

“Good luck, sir,” Jarvis said as the Mustang performed a perfect bootlegger's turn, then peeled out and sped back the way it had come.

The dragon, which had just gotten to the near edge of the lake, let out another roar as it turned to chase Ruffian.

“Run, Ruffian,” Becky said as she watched Jarvis lead the dragon away.

“Jarvis, aim to the left. Becky, you take right,” Alvin said as the two trucks pulled even with the back of the Humvee. “Tires—if their tires stop for even a fraction of a second, they should have issues.”

Becky slid her side window open and got ready to fire. The M240B began to empty out the last of its box, which was Becky’s cue to stick her gun out and fire. Jarvis had a terrible angle and wasn’t able to hit his target. Becky had a good shot, and the moment the tire shredded, the vehicle became mired in the soft sand. Even though the tire fixed itself, it was too late for the truck to keep going.

“Got mine,” Becky said.

“I did not,” Jarvis informed them.

“Hang on,” Alvin said as the truck pulled alongside the Humvee. Twisting the wheel, Alvin slammed the two vehicles together. The driver of the truck overcompensated, and the truck spun out in the sand. “Eat that, bitch,” Alvin laughed, slewing the Humvee hard the other way.

Becky let out a wild laugh as she watched the trucks futilely trying to get free. “We are free,” she whooped.

“Jarvis, is the dragon still chasing you?”

“Indeed, sir.”

“Do your best to keep Ruffian in good condition,” Alvin said as he got the Humvee back on the road. “Also, which way am I going?”

“I shall tell you where to turn sir,” Jarvis said. “Also, well done on defeating your pursuers.”

“Team effort,” Alvin said as he eased off the gas pedal, the engine’s roar dropping enough for them to talk normally.

“California?” Becky asked.

“Trees, here we come,” Alvin told her.

As they left the people behind, Alvin wondered if they would hear more of Lister, and if he was another player. Shaking his head, he focused on his driving and was very grateful he’d taken the upgrades to allow Jarvis to drive his vehicles.

Chapter Twenty-one

Following the road north, Alvin finally recalled the loot they had taken. “Gothy, get into my fanny pack and drag out what we looted off the trio of idiots.”

Becky pulled out the items from his fanny pack. “Three XP tokens and a Durability rune,” Becky said. “The tokens stacked on top of each other.”

“That explains why I was able to shove them all into the bag,” Alvin mused. “How many of them did we kill?”

“You killed two, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Miss killed twelve in total, and I killed one. You don’t have much XP left, and neither does miss.”

Alvin took one of the XP tokens and activated it. A rush of energy surged through him briefly. “That was just short of two thousand XP.”

Becky used one as well. “There was a thousand, six hundred and fifty-five XP on that one.”

“Jarvis, did any of us accrue negative XP for your kill?” Alvin asked as he took the last XP card, which held just short of one thousand XP.

“You did not, sir. The dragon is still chasing me, and has barely missed the car five times with its breath,” Jarvis said. “I think it might be very upset with your earlier actions.”

“Or one of the devs has a grudge,” Alvin muttered. “Okay, if you can kill and we don’t get hit with a penalty, I have a plan.”

Becky looked at Alvin, then chuckled. “Going back, are we?”

“We left loot on the ground, got to collect it all,” Alvin said as he slowed to turn the Humvee around. “Jarvis, you’re on gunner duty.”

“Understood, sir,” Jarvis said. “Thank you for including me.”

“You’re welcome. Gothy, give me that rune,” Alvin held out his hand for it. Slapping it to the dash, he accepted it being slotted into the Humvee. “If we get the chance to talk to any of them, I’d like to know where their Settlement is as well.”

“I’ll try to persuade them,” Becky said, her eyes alight with evil intent.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Alvin said with a wicked grin as he got the Humvee turned around. “They’re likely to be out of their vehicles, at least to start with. Becky, don’t join in unless you have to.”

“As you command, Hero,” Becky grinned.

The first part of the drive back was laced with tension and anticipation. Coming back down the road, Alvin could see the two trucks still stuck in the sand, but nobody was near them.

“I hope they decided to walk back to their friends,” Alvin chuckled.

“You know, we did kind of start this,” Becky mentioned.

“Nope. They held us at gunpoint and disarmed us,” Alvin said, “then kept telling us to be quiet. That didn’t sound like they wanted to invite us in for cake.”

“Fair enough,” Becky chuckled. “We did try to play nice, and now we’re going to kill them all and take their shit.”

“We might be murder hobos,” Alvin snorted.

Passing the two trucks that had gotten bogged down in the sand, Becky was a little puzzled. “How come we didn’t get stuck in the sand after the collision?”

“Creative use of game mechanics,” Alvin snickered. “The Impervious rune makes it so the item it’s attached to ignores environmental issues. I would say getting your wheels bogged down in dunes counts.”

Becky laughed. “You are trying to break the game.”

“Fuckers chastised Jarvis, even after we keep getting attacked by dragons,” Alvin said. “They deserve a little pain in return.”

“You’re only going to piss them off more,” Becky pointed out.

“What are they going to do, throw more dragons at me? At some point, the people watching will start complaining about the bullshit they keep throwing at us. The point is for people to watch, and keep watching. Hard to keep them doing that if the devs are just fucking with the MC they want to watch.”

“Fair enough,” Becky said as she sat up straight. “Four people on the road.”

“Jarvis, you’re up,” Alvin said as he watched the four people suddenly scramble off toward the sand.

Closing faster than the people could run, the sound of the M240B firing began echoing across the lake. First one, then two of the runners, went down in a spray of blood. The other two dove to the ground, and Alvin turned the Humvee towards them.

Gunshots rang out, followed by the sounds of them bouncing harmlessly off the armor. “This little piggy should have stayed home,” Alvin snickered as he drove the Humvee over one of the people shooting at them.

Another small burst of fire from the M240B preceded Jarvis’ voice. “That is all four dead, sir, and you’ve lost more XP.”

“The Humvee did more than he had health,” Alvin chuckled. “Good to know.” Glancing at Becky as he parked the vehicle on the sand, Alvin grinned. “You want the first two or the last two?”

“I’ll grab these two, you can get the others,” Becky said, jumping out, her boots immediately sinking a few inches into the soft sand. “Yeah, this is a cheat,” she added, looking at the Humvee sitting as if on hard packed dirt.

Alvin chuckled as he got out and started back toward the first two that had died. “Inventive use of game mechanics,” Alvin reminded her with a laugh.

They looted the bodies, then Alvin got the Humvee moving again. “Four more XP tokens and a blacksmithing book,” Becky said as she took the XP from two cards and Alvin took the other two. “Let’s see. Four humans dead, which might have meant negative four-hundred XP, but Jarvis killed three, and you only killed one, so it turned out to only be a hundred XP deficit. Once you take into account the three thousand, five hundred forty XP from the four XP tokens, the penalty for killing people is laughable.”

“That is now being looked at more carefully,” Jarvis informed them stiffly. “It seems that the idea of being ‘murder hobos’ didn’t occur to the dev team until just now.”

“Must never have talked to a tabletop gamer, then,” Becky snorted.

“You might wish to hurry with your current plan,” Jarvis said.

“Told you they were deliberately fucking with me,” Alvin groused.

“I’m passing your complaint on to a higher authority,” Jarvis told them. “Also, the dragon just turned around. The Mustang did get hit twice with flame, but took minimal damage, considering.”

“Let’s not dally, then,” Alvin said as he got them moving at the other trucks further back. “Jarvis, head toward some place where we can switch up vehicles on the way to Cali.”

“Right away, sir,” Jarvis replied.

The other trucks still had people near them, who were waiting for the Humvee to come back. Not that it did them much good, with Jarvis manning the gun. They quickly looted the other ten people and headed back to the base.

“You know,” Becky said as she used the last of the five XP tokens she’d looted, “the easy solution is to not have these drop off everyone.”

“Right?” Alvin chuckled. “I wonder how many people are left at the base?”

“We’ll find out,” Becky said as she looked at the two other items they had looted from the bodies. “Mysterious Orb? Jarvis any info on this thing?”

“You should ask a Shaman about that item, miss,” Jarvis replied.

“Shaman, like Native American Shaman?” Becky asked, putting it in her bag.

“That would be a valid guess, miss.”

“What about this Partial Engineering Schematic?”

“A skilled technician could probably use it, if another part or three was found,” Jarvis said.

“Something else to keep for later,” Becky said, stuffing it into her bag. “Hmm, my backpack can’t hold much more miscellaneous shit. Need to unload it into the Mustang. We can unload a lot of the stuff from the Mustang into this beauty, though—that will free up more space in Ruffian.”

“Yeah,” Alvin said as he watched the surroundings. “I see some bodies still on the ground, maybe they all came after us?” He pointed at the two dead bodies just inside the gates of the base.

“Or they could be waiting to ambush us,” Becky suggested.

“Fair, but we have a dragon coming back this way, so we’ll have to risk it.”

“Should we stop here first, or at the others further in where I first began to return fire?” Becky asked.

“Here first, then we’ll go further in.”

“Okay,” Becky said as she put her Tommy away and brought out her MP5, which was lighter to carry.

The caution was unneeded as no one jumped out to ambush them, and they found and looted the other eight bodies. Splitting the XP tokens again, both were disappointed at the lack of other items.

“Well, time to get on the road again,” Alvin said as he drove back onto the main road. “Jarvis, directions please.”

“Head south, sir. I’ll detour you around Hawthorne and onto State Route 359 for the first part of your journey.”

Chapter Twenty-two

The detour around the burnt remnants of Hawthorne didn’t take them far out of the way, but it showed that nothing was living in the area. A couple of miles south of town, Jarvis directed Alvin toward Lucky Boy Pass.

“Why is it called Lucky Boy Pass?” Becky asked.

“Lucky Boy was a small town, founded when silver was discovered in the area around 1907,” Jarvis informed her. “It dried up when the mining did, so now this pass is just one of the ways over the Sierra Nevada mountains.”

Alvin looked at a sign declaring that the Lucky Boy Ranch was only a mile ahead. When he got close, all they could see were the burnt husks of the buildings that had been there, besides a hundred or so mutated cattle that walked the area, grazing.

“Still can’t get over the desert being cattle country,” Alvin muttered.

“Sir,” Jarvis said after a few minutes of silence, “I regret to inform you the soonest we will be able to meet is in Bridgeport, California.”

“No other roads connecting the two of us?” Alvin asked.

“I’m afraid not, not without getting closer to the dragon than is advisable.”

“Anything else we need to know?”

“David left a message for miss on a kiosk, when you next get to one. It isn’t urgent,” Jarvis hastened to add. “I would give you the message here, miss, but I can only read sir’s messages to him if asked.”

“Probably just wants to see how I’m doing,” Becky said, brushing her hair back.

“Probably,” Alvin agreed. “Maybe he wants to tell you he proposed to Bridgett.”

Becky snorted, “I doubt he’s grown a set that fast.”

Alvin chuckled as the road began to climb into the hills, twisting as it went. “You’re so nice to your younger brother.”

Becky’s lips twitched in a mostly-suppressed smile. “He is... special. We always told him that when the short bus showed up.”

“Damn, that’s harsh. He isn’t even here to defend himself,” Alvin winced. “Besides, if you’re his twin, then didn’t you also—”

“Choose those next words carefully,” Becky said, her eyes full of mischief as she cut off his sentence.

“You also,” Alvin continued from where he had been interrupted, “ride that same bus?”

“Asshole,” Becky snorted. “You didn’t even think about changing your words, did you?”

“Nope.”

“Why do I put up with you?”

“My winning personality or my amazing cock,” Alvin grinned. “Take your pick.”

Becky sniggered, “Oh yeah, it was the way you say the silliest things and think they’re true.”

Alvin laughed, “Fair enough, Gothy, fair enough.”

“Besides, your dick is amazing, your personality matches mine, you’re only getting better looking, and you’ll kill for me,” Becky said as she reached over and rubbed his shoulder. “So, this time, you were right, in a way.”

“Nutjob,” Alvin laughed as he caught her hand and gave it a squeeze before putting both hands back on the wheel. He was starting to see snow on the ground on either side of the road. It was then he really took stock of the weather, and could see dark clouds in the distance ahead of them. “Oh goody, it looks like snow.”

“We have the tires,” Becky said.

“True enough. Looks like we’ll get to test them again.”

“Jarvis, is there anything we should be aware of? Hazards and the like,” Becky asked.

“The weather is likely to include snow. On the back roads I have you traveling, that is likely to cause only minor issues. Nothing major is likely, besides wildlife thinking you are a threat.”

“What kind of wildlife?” Becky asked.

“Everything you’ve seen, plus mountain goats, mountain lions, and many more.”

“Sounds like XP on the hoof or paw to me,” Becky chuckled. “I might want to shut that hatch, though, if we’re expecting snow.” She unbuckled to close the gunner’s hatch.

“Lots of rocks on the road,” Alvin idly commented as he maneuvered the Humvee around them. “Wouldn’t think this road would be in this bad of a condition.”

“Maybe the bighorn sheep have been knocking them down?” Becky shrugged. “I’m sure it won’t—”

A loud crunch brought both of their eyes up along the cliff they were next to, just in time to see a torso-sized rock come tumbling down at them. Alvin didn’t bother to dodge; he knew he didn’t have time and the Humvee could take it. A resounding clang echoed inside the cabin as the rock hit and bounced off the vehicle.

“I like rock and roll, but come on,” Becky punned.

Alvin winced. “Oh gods, that pun hit rock bottom.”

Both eyebrows going up, Becky stared at Alvin. “I took your non-punning ways for granite, it seems.”

“You started me on this path, like a pebble bouncing downhill to start the rockslide,” Alvin rejoined.

“I see that teaching you shall be a rocky path,” Becky grinned.

“I shall snatch the pebble from your hand in time.”

“Agate it, you want to learn, good.”

“Shale we drop this?” Alvin asked.

“That is such a stone-cold question to ask.”

Alvin licked his lips, and the moment drew out before he shook his head. “I yield.”

“As you should,” Becky giggled. “It was nice to see you try and keep up with me, though.”

“It just—” Alvin was cut off by another rock hitting the vehicle. “It was just a momentary fancy, it might not happen again. Besides, it made you smile.”

“You always seem to be able to do that,” Becky said. “I’ve been meaning to ask, about the other night when we just cuddled…” She trailed off, biting at her lower lip for a moment. “You didn’t mind, right?”

“That you gave me a break to recover some of my stamina?”

“I just... couldn’t. Not after seeing Karee flayed like that,” Becky said.

“Did I complain?” Alvin asked.

“No.”

“There’s your answer then,” Alvin glanced over at her, “Besides, we had more than enough fun this morning, didn’t we?”

Her answering smile was bright. “Not as much as we could have, but yes, it was enough to sate me.”

“Remember when I was worried about not jumping you every chance, and if that would mean I cared for you less?” Alvin asked her. When she nodded, he continued, “I had that answer last night. Holding you and watching Firefly was enough. Just having you there was all I really needed.”

Becky’s smile was a touch brittle. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do,” Alvin said, reaching over to touch her cheek, “but I’m still going to ravish you plenty, here and there.”

“Good,” catching his hand, Becky kissed it. “I know we’ll both get used to our feelings in time, but every day feels like a rollercoaster still.”

“Well, I know you’re always going up, and down, while I’m going in loops.”

Giggling, Becky kissed his hand again before letting it go. “I thought I was supposed to be the sex crazed one here.”

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me,” Alvin said as another rock slammed into the Humvee. This time, Alvin caught sight of a bighorn sheep before it vanished. “Huh. It is the sheep dropping rocks on us.”

“How long is this pass?” Becky asked.

“You are almost through, miss,” Jarvis said. “There is a flat spot between the mountains coming up. After that, there is a place called Nine Mile Ranch, or at least there is on the map.”

“I wonder if they survived?” Alvin said. “If they have, they might want to move, close as the dragon is.”

“You can find out soon, the main buildings should be just before the turn off I have you slated for,” Jarvis said.

The hills started to open up, and Alvin grinned as he caught sight of the bighorn staring at them. “See you later, Rambo.”

“Did you just call the sheep Rambo?” Becky snorted.

“Yup,” Alvin chuckled. “Let’s see what we find at the ranch, shall we?”

“Sounds good to me,” Becky replied, catching sight of a pronghorn antelope grazing on the scrub. “Home, home on the range,” Becky half-sang.

“Sadly, no deer,” Alvin said.

“Home, home with the insane, where the nutjobs and the crazies all stay. Where seldom is heard, a completely sane word, and the jackets all fit just the same.” Becky grinned as she sang her parody of the old song.

“Wow, really?” Alvin laughed.

“It works,” Becky laughed with him.

“Nutjob,” Alvin snickered.

“Where is my jacket, then, hmm?”

Alvin’s eyes gleamed at her question, “Oh, just wait.”

Becky paused, then shook her head. “I did that to myself.”

“Yes, you did,” Alvin agreed. “I’ll be getting one now, just to put you in.”

“Two peas in a pod,” Becky murmured happily.

Alvin glanced at the happy smile on her lips and felt a copy of it on his. “More like two nuts in a shell.”

Becky licked her lips. “I like nuts.”

Rolling his eyes, Alvin drove on toward their next turn, not taking the bait that she left dangling out there. A gusty wind began to pick up as he drove, and soon heavy raindrops began to fall.

“Well, here we go with the test of the runes.”

Chapter Twenty-three

The rain started coming down hard and fast, the wipers barely able to keep up with the storm. “Well, this is new,” Alvin said, letting the Humvee cruise at forty. “It was a dark and stormy… afternoon… Doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“What, you want to write a book about our adventures?” Becky chuckled. “Gothy and Hero, a death tale.”

“How come you got top billing?” Alvin asked.

“G comes before H,” Becky replied primly. “Besides, isn’t it better when I come first?”

Laughing, Alvin shook his head, “Fair enough, Gothy.”

The crack of thunder was almost perfectly in sync with the flash of lightning that struck off to the side of the road ahead. Alvin took his foot off the gas as he tried to blink the after images from his eyes.

“Fuck,” Becky swore as she rubbed at her eyes, “that was way closer than I’ve ever been to a strike.”

“I want to say it hit something up ahead,” Alvin said as he was finally able to clear his eyes. Slowing the Humvee even more, he peered through the curtain of rain to the side. Just ahead of them, a haul truck sat on a side road. “Jarvis, is there a mine out here?”

“The map I’m looking at shows an open pit mine, sir, but I can’t find the name of it,” Jarvis replied.

“Huh,” Alvin said as he let the Humvee come to a stop next to the truck. “I wonder what the mine is like?”

“You promised me trees,” Becky reminded him. “Also, we’re supposed to hook back up with my Ruffian.”

“Fine, but I’m going to remember this place. Maybe we’ll be back this way again,” Alvin said as he got the Humvee moving again.

“At the moment, it’s going to be a giant hole filling with water,” Becky snickered. “Better to come back later anyway.”

Keeping the Humvee at thirty, Alvin kept his focus on driving as the rain started to mix with slush. “Here comes the white stuff,” Alvin muttered.

“You’re not even breathing heavy yet,” Becky snickered.

“Always with the quips and puns,” Alvin replied with a smile.

“Got to keep you on your toes,” Becky grinned.

Before Alvin could reply, something streaked across the road. Slowing further, he watched as another few forms darted across the road ahead of them. “What the…?” Alvin said as he tried to get a better look at the figures.

Another blurred shape streaked across the same point. Becky sat up straight, “Antelope?”

“Pronghorn antelope,” Jarvis supplied.

“Antelope don’t run that fast,” Alvin said firmly. “Unless that’s their mutation?”

“I thought they could run fast before, but that was like Ruffian going all out,” Becky agreed.

“Yeah,” Alvin said as he got the Humvee rolling again. “I hope they aren’t as aggressive as most of the other animals seem to be.”

“They were running like something was after them,” Becky pointed out.

“Cheerful thought,” Alvin said. Just ahead of them, he watched as water licked at the roadway where a wash was rushing by under it. “That is a lot of water.”

“Right?” Becky said. “Good thing we’re going through now—I wonder if the road will even be here tomorrow?”

“Point,” Alvin murmured as he drove over the rushing water.

Not even a mile past that first stream, they came to another one, but this one had washed the road away. “Do we follow the water and try to find a better place to cross it?” Becky asked.

“Can’t cross here,” Alvin said as he looked at the depth of the drop-off into the stream. Looking at the steel plate next to the shifter told him the operating speeds in the different gears. “I should put us into high-lock, but I want to see if the runes work as I thought they would.” Turning to the north, Alvin drove them off the road, staying well away from the bank as he followed the rushing water.

Becky frowned as they went off the road. After a minute, she chuckled, “I’d say you broke it.”

“Feels like we’re still on the road, doesn’t it?” Alvin snickered.

“Yeah,” Becky agreed. “You think that’s the Impervious rune doing this?”

“Yeah. It ignores environmental issues,” Alvin chuckled, “and I’d say mud is environmental.”

“You know they’re going to fix that,” Becky said.

“Fix what? My inventive use of game mechanics?” Alvin said innocently. “That would be a dick move, after all the grief they’ve pointed at me.”

“You know that isn’t going to fly,” Becky said.

“Meh, that’s my story,” Alvin deadpanned.

Rolling her eyes, she looked out at the storm. The slush was turning into fat white flakes. “Let it snow?”

“Looks like, it is August in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, after all.”

“Think the ranch is up here somewhere?” Becky asked as Alvin followed the creek.

“I hope so. I also hope to make it back to the road, eventually. If we had the snorkel kit on this, I’d just cross here, but we don’t, so no going under for us.”

Alvin followed the water as it led them northwest. After a while, Alvin though he could make out some structures in the distance, though the flurries of snow. “Jarvis, is that Nine Mile Ranch?”

“You are in about the right place for it, sir,” Jarvis said.

Looking at the creek, Alvin grimaced. “Need to go further down before we try it.”

“Are we going to go back to—” Becky began, but the crack of a gunshot reached them and she cut off.

“I think it might be worthwhile,” Alvin said as he increased their speed. “Need to find a place to cross, first.”

Less than a mile later, the creek forked, then forked again. Alvin was about to cross over when he saw where a dirt road had been. Taking that as the place to cross, Alvin hit it hard, creating a bow wave that was pushed ahead of the vehicle. Luckily, the water was only wheel deep when not being pushed by the Humvee. Crossing all three forks, Alvin got them onto the dirt road and pointed back toward the ranch.

“Let’s call this hostile territory,” Alvin said. “But there might be non-aggressors, so make sure to verify before you pull the trigger. Jarvis, man the gun. Same rule for you.”

“Yes, Hero.”

“As you command, sir.”

“Alright, let’s see what the ranch has to offer.”

The drive to the ranch was short, with Alvin pushing the Humvee to fifty over the thick mud the dirt road had turned into. The heavy snowfall made it hard to know what was coming up, so he had little warning of the log fence that appeared before him. The gate couldn’t withstand the Humvee going full bore and shattered wood flew in all directions. To his immediate left was a pen of mutated cows that began to get upset at his sudden, noisy appearance.

A woman dressed in torn lingerie came out of the snow just to the side of the road, and Alvin pulled the wheel to angle away from her. The bloody shoulder she clutched, along with her wide fearful eyes, gave Alvin the impression that she wasn’t the issue.

A moment later, a man holding a rifle came into view. “Jarvis, end him,” Alvin commanded in a voice that matched the near blizzard swirling around the vehicle.

The M240B fired a handful of shots, pulping the startled man as Alvin applied the brakes. Becky, feeling the Humvee coming to a stop, opened her door, jumping out to chase after the injured woman.

“I can help you, wait!” Becky called out.

Glancing over her shoulder at Becky, the injured woman took her eyes off her footing and went down with a cry of pain. Becky closed the distance before she could stand up again.

“Easy,” Becky said, pulling out a medkit. “Just put this on your shoulder. We’re here to help. What is happening?”

“Lister’s men, they shot him…” the woman sniffled, trying to hold back the tears. “They promised they wouldn’t if I… if I...” Breaking down into tears, the woman curled into a ball.

Becky got close enough to put the medkit against the woman’s shoulder. “Lister’s men?” Becky’s eyes went wide, but the woman had passed out. “Hero, she said Lister’s men are here.”

Alvin jumped out of the Humvee. “Guess his Settlement is close to here, then.” Bending down, he lifted the woman up and carried her to the Humvee. “Anything else we need to know?”

“She said that they killed someone they’d promised not to, but she passed out when I applied the medkit.”

“We need more info,” Alvin said as he knelt down and prodded the woman. “Hey, wake up.”

With a groan, the woman blinked. “No… you promised.”

“We’re not with Lister,” Alvin said firmly. “We need to know how many of them there are, and if anyone else is still alive.”

“Dale, my husband. He’s been shot,” the woman began shuddering. “They promised to leave us alone if I just…”

“Where are they holding your husband?” Alvin asked.

“The barn. They shot him in the barn.”

“How many of them are there?” Alvin’s voice was sharp as he tried to drag the information out of her.

“Six.”

“Gothy, get her settled in the Humvee,” Alvin said as he took a step back from the woman. “She would probably take it badly if I touched her right now.” Looking at the closest structure, which was the very definition of a barn, Alvin’s lips turned up in a vulpine smile. “Jarvis, if anyone shows up in any direction other than that barn, kill them.”

Becky looked back at Alvin. “You’re not going without me.”

“Shake a leg,” Alvin said as he summoned the Type 56 to his hand. “It’s hunting season, and we have five more to bag.”

“Easy for you to say.” Becky grumbled. “She’s not my size, but she still weighs a fair bit.” Once Becky got the woman into the Humvee and had her Tommy gun in hand, Alvin and Becky started toward the barn.

“What the fuck is taking him so long? And he better not have killed her, I haven’t had my turn yet.”

“Oh, shut it, Stan. If you hadn’t shot her precious husband, we would still be spit-roasting the bitch. But you just couldn’t wait your fucking turn.”

“Fuck you, Miguel. Just because I’m the newest guy on the crew doesn’t mean I should be last. I’m the best shot here and you fucking know it, asshole.”

“Once Devon brings her back and she sees that he’s just injured, we might be able to convince her to keep going.”

“You say that, but that was a lot of gunfire,” Stan snapped. “I think he killed her.”

Alvin and Becky snuck up to the doorway, having heard the entire conversation. There were at least two people inside, plus the woman’s husband. Alvin tapped his chest and pointed right, before pointing at Becky and motioning left. Becky nodded as she put the Tommy on semi-auto. Alvin held out three fingers, then started counting down. When he finished, he rushed the door, which was open just wide enough for a single person to go through.

Stepping into the barn, Alvin’s eyes swept the interior to the right of the door. Becky’s steps, right behind him, assured him that his back was safe. Alvin’s spotted a tough looking, weathered man, naked and hanging by his wrists, dripping blood from a single gunshot to the lower thigh.

The sound of the Tommy being fired brought Alvin around, as he couldn’t find any targets in his field of view. Becky advanced on her victims, both of whom were on the ground screaming in pain. “Rapist bastards,” she snarled as she put more rounds into the two men.

Getting himself focused back on his side of the barn, Alvin advanced on the hanging man. “Hey, you alive?”

“Just let Vicki go,” the man wheezed.

Alvin looked at the rope going up to the rafters, but it ran right next to the loft. “Gothy, you clear?”

“Clear, Hero. A couple of XP tokens, and that’s it,” Becky said.

“Eat them, I have to go cut this guy down. Bring a medkit over here, he needs one.” Alvin found the ladder to the loft and started climbing up. Once he was next to the rope, he discovered an issue—he didn’t have a knife on him. “Fuck,” Alvin sighed. Looking around, he found an older blade stuck into one of the posts. Shrugging, he grabbed it and sawed at the rope with the dull edge until it finally parted.

“I got him,” Becky said as she lowered the guy to the ground. Applying the medkit as Alvin came back down, she started to ask, “Weren’t there supp—”

The sound of the M240B firing brought them both running to the door. The snow had lessened just enough to see the house in the distance, and three unmoving shapes sprawled in pools of crimson.

“Well done, Jarvis,” Alvin chuckled. “You want to go grab the loot from them and the first guy? I’ll see if our friend here is going to wake up.”

“Sure,” Becky said, stealing a quick kiss.

Alvin found a burlap sack to cover the unconscious, naked man. Kneeling down, Alvin tapped the man’s cheek. “Hey, wake up. Vicki is safe and waiting for you.”

Eyes snapping open wild and unfocused, the guy lashed out and caught Alvin on the chin with his bound hands. “I’ll kill you!”

Shocked at being hit, Alvin was just able to grab the rope that was still on the man’s wrists and secure him. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to be mean.”

Eyes slowly gaining intelligence, the man blinked. “What did you do to her?”

“Your wife is passed out in our vehicle. We found her being chased by these guys, and killed them. You are Dale, right?”

“Yes,” Dale said as he started to shiver. “She’s safe? My Vicki is safe?”

“You’re going to catch hypothermia,” Alvin said as he stood, pulling Dale to his feet. “Come on, we’ll get you into your house.”

“There are more of them,” Dale said quickly.

“No, all six are dead,” Alvin said, leading Dale by the rope like a horse. “Now come on.” Shaking his head, Alvin sighed again. “Jarvis, bring the Humvee to the front door of the farmhouse.”

Dale stumbled along behind Alvin. “Can you untie me?”

“Once we get you to the house, yeah. I would rather not get hit again, so until we get there, you’re staying like this.”

Chapter Twenty-four

By the time Alvin and Becky had the couple in their home, Dale was almost incoherent and blue, while Vicki was unresponsive, but breathing. Propping them both on the sofa, and covering Dale in blankets, the pair wondered what else they could do. The fireplace had a fire going in it, and the three dead men had obviously been enjoying themselves, judging by the assortment of alcohol bottles littering the coffee and end tables.

“You want to look around, or watch them?” Alvin asked Becky.

“I’ll look around,” Becky decided. “I think they both need something other than medkits.”

“I think he’s got hypothermia,” Alvin replied. “Not sure what else we can do, besides trying to warm him up.”

“There was something in the store that cured abnormal status effects,” Becky reminded him. “Maybe grab one and test it out on him? She might need one as well. She’s breathing fine, but isn’t responding to any stimuli.”

“I’ll go grab one, you check through the house. Since we’re using XP on them, I’d like to walk away with something.”

“Jarvis,” Alvin said as he got into the Humvee, “pad me.”

Taking the glowing pad from the air, Alvin found it open to the medical area. “Panacea cures all abnormal status effects, but costs ten thousand XP. That’s a bit much,” Alvin muttered as he perused the list. “Antivenom, for three thousand, nice but they aren’t poisoned. Smelling salts, used to remove stun effects, up to and including shock, also three thousand XP—that might work for Vicki.” Alvin added the item to the cart and kept looking. “Still need something for hypothermia. Survival pack, cures heat and cold body conditions, three thousand XP.” Alvin’s finger hovered over the button, “Jarvis, will that cure hypothermia?”

“It will, sir. It will also cure heat stroke, dehydration, frostbite, and similar conditions,” Jarvis replied.

“Works for now,” Alvin said, adding it to the cart. “How much XP do I have? Hmm, a little over fourteen K. They better be worth the expense.” He bought both and headed back inside.

Becky wasn’t in the living room with the couple, so Alvin figured she was still searching the house. Vicki was still unresponsive, even when he pinched her cheek hard. Dale was mumbling and shivering under the blanket, even with a fire going a few feet away.

“If I cure them both now, then Gothy will have issues searching the rest of the house. If I don’t cure Dale, though, he might run into more complications,” Alvin muttered as he debated whether to at least cure Dale right now.

Becky appeared at the top of the stairs. “They have a small wall safe that’s locked tight with a combination spinner, looks pretty old. Other than that, they have a gun safe upstairs. Only a handful of jewelry, and nothing else of note.”

“Well since you’re done with the look, I guess I’ll cure them and we can see how grateful they are.”

“Should we remove his ropes first?” Becky asked.

Rubbing his jaw, Alvin pursed his lips. “I guess we can. Actually, grab some clothes for both of them. They might really want some when they wake up. I’ll find a knife to cut the ropes off.”

“There’s a nice Bowie up here,” Becky said. “I’ll bring it down with the clothes.”

It only took her a few minutes to bring clothes and the knife to him. Alvin didn’t bother giving the blade more than a cursory glance before he pulled the blanket down to expose Dale’s arms and carefully cut the ropes, which parted easily to the sharp edge of the knife. Setting the knife on the table, Alvin covered the shivering man back up.

“Let’s see if these things work,” Alvin said, handing the ampoule of smelling salts to Becky. “You dose her, I’ll get him.” Pulling out the small injectable that held a mixture of blue and red fluid, Alvin pushed it into Dale’s pectoral muscle and pushed the plunger. The liquid was soon gone, and the syringe vanished from his hand. Stepping back, along with Becky, the couple waited to see what the effects would be.

Five seconds later, the shivering stopped and Dale blinked as his eyes began to focus. “What? Who?”

“Dale, someone save him,” Vicki cried out as she jolted forward.

“Vicki?” Dale said, grabbing his wife and crushing her to him.

It took the couple a moment to realize they weren’t alone. Once they did, Dale grabbed the knife off the table and put himself between Vicki and them. “I won’t let you—”

“Oh, shut up,” Alvin cut in. “We just saved both of you. And put some clothes on, no one wants to see that.”

“Dale, you’re not wounded?” Vicki asked, shocked to find her naked husband without a gunshot wound in his leg. “I was being chased by one of them, and then thunder echoed…”

“Not thunder, an M240B,” Becky added. “The guy chasing you met an abrupt end, as did the other five. You were shot in the shoulder, and he was shot through the leg when we got to you both. You’ve been in shock for the last few minutes, and Dale has been suffering from hypothermia. By the way, your clothes are next to you.”

Eyes going from one to the other, Dale hesitated, clearly torn. The story the two told was too ludicrous to be true, but he had been strung up by his wrists in the barn, last he could recall, while the men… Shuddering, Dale forced that image from his mind.

“Why don’t you get dressed, and we’ll talk,” Alvin said evenly. “While you do that, we’ll go poke in your kitchen and see if we can find some food, because I’m fucking starving.”

“Right, sure, go ahead,” Dale said, looking even more uncertain, while Vicki grabbed her blouse from the arm of the sofa and began to get dressed.

“Come on, Gothy, let’s go raid the larder. I hope they have some way to cook without electricity.”

Alvin found a propane stove in the kitchen, and had cubed potatoes going and had just dropped steaks into a cast iron skillet when Dale and Vicki entered the kitchen. Becky looked up as they came in.

“Decided you didn’t trust us?” Becky asked.

Glancing over his shoulder, Alvin saw the couple, both with pistols on their hips. Dale carried a Remington 700 as well. “I really hope those aren’t for us,” Alvin’s words were calm, though his Kevlar appeared on his torso, his back still to them.

“I’d rather not be caught unprepared again,” Dale said warily. “I take it you found the food.”

“I have some taters and steak going,” Alvin said. “Wasn’t sure you’d be interested, but I have a couple more rubbed and ready to go after this set.”

“I could eat,” Vicki said softly. “They came in the middle of the night, we haven’t eaten for a day.” A loud growl from her stomach proved her statement.

“I’ll have these ready in a minute,” Alvin said. “I hope you like them rare to medium rare.”

“By preference,” Dale said as he set the rifle on the counter. “Sorry for being standoffish, but with the last day…”

“We understand,” Becky said from where she sat with a glass of wine in her hand. “Can I ask what you know about the current state of things?”

“What do you mean?” Vicki asked as she took a seat at the table with Becky. “You mean besides all the cows mutating, and the electricity not working?”

“Did you hear the Pope’s message just before that?” Becky asked.

“You mean his end of the world speech?” Dale asked with narrowed eyes. “We heard it, but come on, stuff like that doesn—”

“Yeah, there you go,” Becky chuckled. “I’m surprised that just two of you are working this place.”

Vicki’s eyes went flat. “Our men didn’t come back from Bridgeport that day. That is, until yesterday, when Miguel showed up with his new friends.”

“You said they’re all dead?” Dale asked, his voice full of anger.

“Dead and gone,” Alvin said as he flipped the meat in the skillet. “Gothy, why don’t you start with show and tell. I’ll get these done, then start on ours, so they can eat while you talk.”

“Works,” Becky said as she finished the glass of wine. “Dale, come on over and have a seat, you’re going need to see this to believe it.”

Dale took a seat where he could keep his eyes on Alvin, who had let his vest vanish again. “Okay. What did you want to show us?”

Becky began explaining the changes to their world. She had just summoned her MP5 to hand, causing Dale to sit back in surprise, when Alvin put the steaks on the table before the couple. Eyes a little wide, Dale took the offered food, focusing more on what Becky was saying than the meal.

Alvin got the potatoes browning nicely before he dropped the next set of steaks onto the skillet. By the time he finished the second pair of steaks, the potatoes were ready as well. Dishing himself and Becky a full meal, he carted the rest of them over to the table.

Taking his seat as Becky finished her explanation, Alvin dug into his meal. Alvin watched Dale and Vicki try to process the information they had been given as they ate their food on autopilot. Alvin frowned at his food; he hadn’t added enough pepper to either the steak, or the potatoes.

“That is a lot to take in,” Dale finally said, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room.

“We can’t stay here,” Vicki said mournfully. “That Lister guy Miguel spoke of will just send more men, or the others will come back this way from Hawthorne.”

“They won’t,” Alvin said as he swallowed a bit of red meat. “They all died. I’d suggest you go anyway, though. There’s a dragon over to the northeast of here, and your herd will be prime meat for it.”

“A dragon?” Dale asked incredulously.

“Did you not just get shown the equivalent of magic?” Becky snorted, “But you’re going to balk at a dragon.”

Shaking his head, Dale sighed, “So how do we get the XP to upgrade our things? And even if we wanted to leave, where would we go? You said Hawthorne is in ruins.”

“Beatty,” Alvin said as he cut another bite off the steak. “They have a good Settlement started up, and could use experienced ranchers to help them with the cattle they were getting. Shawn is in charge down there, he’ll be more than happy to welcome knowledgeable people who can, and will, work.”

“Beatty is a decent haul, and we only have the one truck to carry the cattle. With as big as they are now, I won’t be able to take many,” Dale said.

“True. We can ask Shawn if he needs a bull. If not, just take some heifers with you,” Becky said.

“Won’t we need to upgrade our truck to make the trip?” Vicki asked.

“Possibly,” Alvin said. “Can I look at your 700 there, Dale?”

“Okay,” Dale said, puzzled why Alvin wanted to see it.

Picking it up, Alvin found it was uncommon quality, just like his. He put it back down and went back to his seat to finish eating. “You can drop four runes into that gun. Reloading is a must. I’d add Durability as well. After that, pick what you think best. For your truck, you need Fuel and I’d suggest Tires, but that’s a lot of XP.” Alvin paused as he saw the pensive look on Dale’s face. “As for how to get XP— killing things, looting them, and perhaps even selling the drops, just like most video games. Since you don’t have a lot of XP, and trying to kill us for some would be a really bad idea, we can work out a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Dale asked, suddenly defensive.

“Once you have all the things you’re taking loaded, we’ll pick over the rest. I doubt it will come up to equal the XP needed for your truck, but we’re altruistic that way.” Alvin smiled sincerely.

Becky managed to keep a straight face at his words, but with difficulty. “Always helping people, aren’t you, Hero?” Alvin could mentally see her correct that statement in her head to shooting, instead of helping.

“If you’ll give us a few minutes,” Dale said, motioning Vicki toward the living room.

“Take your time,” Alvin said.

When they left the room, Becky gave him a flat stare. “Really? Altruistic?”

Alvin grinned as he cut another bite of steak. “That’s me.”

“Remind me not to play poker with you,” Becky snorted as she went back to her food. “If they take us up on the offer, we’re going to have to stay here for the night.”

“True,” Alvin said, taking the last bite of his meal. “I wonder what we could find to do, to entertain ourselves.”

Becky’s eyes smoldered with passion. “I have some ideas, Hero.”

Chapter Twenty-five

It took Dale and Vicki a couple of hours to pack up what they wanted to take, even with Alvin and Becky helping. Becky bought the two runes for their truck once they’d finished loading their personal items. Alvin showed Dale how to apply them, then helped get five heifers loaded up in the twenty-five-foot cattle trailer.

“Thank you,” Dale said. “We’ll be careful heading to Beatty. I know some back roads south of Hawthorne that will get us to the main road, so we should avoid the dragon.”

“Safe travels,” Alvin said. “Shawn is aware you’re on your way and is really looking forward to your help getting his food supply stabilized.”

“Thank you,” Vicki said, her soft voice full of emotion as she gave Becky a hug. “You saved our lives, and I’ll never forget you.”

“We’ll be back there in time,” Becky said, gently patting the rancher’s back. “We’ll see each other again.”

Alvin had on his best false smile as he waved the couple goodbye. Once the truck was well down the road, Alvin let the smile drop. “Fucking gods, just get on with it. Okay, so let's go see what’s worth a fuck out of what’s left.”

“Why did we spend the XP on them, out of curiosity?”

“Shawn really can use them,” Alvin shrugged. “I would have sent them to Green River instead, but that would put them into the sightline of at least another drake. In time, the Settlement might get the teleport ability, and then they can help all the unlocked Settlements.”

“Should have figured, but for a moment, you had me doubting,” Becky said.

“They should have bought it hook, line, and sinker then,” Alvin chuckled. “The sooner we catalog this stuff, the sooner we can have some fun for ourselves.”

The sun was down by the time they had finished what Alvin set out to do. After the last of the stuff they were taking was tossed into the back of the Humvee, he slammed the doors. “Can we please go back to our room now?” Becky asked intently.

Alvin chuckled as he snagged her with an arm around the waist. “Is someone wanting some fun?”

Becky growled as she pushed him into the nearest wall and kissed him hard. Alvin’s hands went around to pull her ass towards him, grinding their bodies together as the kiss deepened, tongues dueling for supremacy.

Breaking the kiss, Becky’s eyes all but glowed with her need. “Take me home and fuck me silly, Hero.”

Since they were just inside the front door, Alvin triggered the switch to change the closest door into the portal to their base. “Go get in the shower,” Alvin told her firmly, his hand coming up to rest right under the tattoo on her neck. “I have some things to prepare for after we’re clean.”

“As you wish,” Becky husked as she spun away from him and vanished into the portal.

Taking a moment to adjust himself, Alvin let out a deep breath, “Damn, she’s intense at times. I guess it’s time for maximum effort.”

Walking through the portal, he found a trail of clothes leading to the bathroom. Letting his clothes vanish down to his underwear, Alvin padded into the dungeon. “Jarvis, I need a pad to buy a special jacket.”

“I think I know what you are after, sir,” Jarvis said. “I have pulled Ruffian over onto a side road for the night, sir. I don’t wish to draw attention to myself before you reach Bridgeport.”

“That’s fine. The Humvee has been a big help so far,” Alvin said. “You’ve done amazingly well on the gun, by the way.”

“Thank you, sir. I am trying to prove myself useful, despite the restrictions placed on me. I do need to let you know that they will probably have a fix in place for your bugs within the next day or two.”

“My bugs?” Alvin chuckled.

“The Impervious rune was not meant for vehicles,” Jarvis said dryly. “The other ‘bug’ is that the negative XP for killing humans has been rendered moot by the loot feature.”

“That isn’t my bug, that’s a design issue,” Alvin chuckled as he took the pad Jarvis had materialized for him. “Now a jacket for my special lady.” It took a few minutes, but he found what he was looking for, then customized it further. “That’s kind of pricey, since it doesn’t have any upgrade spots, but fuck it. She’s going to love it.

“Hey! Jarvis, why haven’t I gotten any fan or gift XP lately?”

“They discontinued the XP bonus from people watching feeds, sir, as well as the XP you got for playing every day. They also took down the donation button for a time. It is supposed to go back up tomorrow.”

“Got it,” Alvin said, looking up at the ceiling. “You hear that, guys? You need to shower the fuck out of us with donations. I know you’re enjoying Becky being tormented. Think of how much more it will torment her to know that you all enjoyed watching her that much.”

“Very devious, sir,” Jarvis said.

“Thank you,” Alvin chuckled as he took the jacket and draped it over one of the padded benches. “Time to go get clean.”

Becky was sprawled on the bench in the middle of the shower, her body lathered in soap as she slowly caressed herself. Her chest was heaving when Alvin stepped into the shower. “I’ve been waiting so long, Hero. Are you going to clean me now?”

Alvin nodded as he went to the knobs that controlled the shower head right above the bench. “Yes,” he said, turning the cold water on full.

Becky screeched in shock as the cold water cascaded over her, washing the suds away and causing her nipples to become hard points. “Hero!”

Alvin added hot water as Becky rolled off the bench. Wrapping his arms around her cold body as she got up, Alvin dragged her back to the bench. “You’re not done yet.”

“No, don’t,” Becky said as she struggled in his arms, not wanting to get hit by cold water again. She stopped her struggles as the warm water finally hit her. “You asshole.”

“Yeah, had to cool you off so I can get you all worked up again,” Alvin said as he began to massage her breasts. “I mean, I had to get you a gift, and here you were getting all worked up without me. Besides, you asked me to clean you, and I did.”

Leaning back into him, Becky let out a soft moan, “Asshole.”

Giving her nipple rings a tug, Alvin felt her shiver against him. “It seems you forgive me,” Alvin whispered in her ear before nibbling it.

“Damn you, Hero, making me bend to your every whim,” Becky moaned as he continued to play with her chest.

“If we stay in here, you’re going to miss getting your present tonight,” Alvin said as one of his hands dropped to her thighs. Before she could react or say more, his fingers had already started to rub across her entrance. “We could just stay here and enjoy ourselves if you’d rather, though.”

Hips moving against his hand, Becky whimpered, “So cruel.”

“Yes, I am,” Alvin said, nipping hard enough to leave bite marks on her neck.

Knees trembling at the assault, Becky let out a deep moan. With a swift movement, she spun in his arms and pushed him onto the bench in the shower. “I want my gift,” Becky panted as she backed up against the shower wall.

Lips twitching into an evil grin, Alvin chuckled, “That was willpower. Okay, let me get cleaned up, then we’ll go to the dungeon.”

Nodding jerkily, Becky’s legs were clamped together, her thighs rubbing against each other. “I’ll just get dried off,” she panted as she moved unsteadily towards the exit.

“Gothy,” Alvin said as he grabbed the soap, “no touching and no orgasms until I say so.”

A frustrated whimper came from her. “As you command, Hero.”

Leaving the shower a couple of minutes later, Alvin found Becky leaning against the wall. Alvin just met her lust filled gaze while he toweled off. Dry, he smirked at her, “Ready for the fun to really begin?”

“Gods, yes,” Becky husked as she left the room before him.

Alvin caught her short of the dungeon, pulling her to a stop. “Close your eyes. No peeking until I say you can open them.”

Frustrated sounds came from her as she complied with his order. Taking her by the waist, he led her into the dungeon. Getting her to stop before the bench that her new jacket was on, Alvin smiled as he imagined her surprise.

“Arms out straight,” Alvin whispered.

Once she was in position, he slid the modified straitjacket over her arms. Becky’s arms remained extended as he buckled the back, though her hands were in the mitten-like ends of the sleeves.

“Silk?” Becky asked, not understanding what he had put on her or why she was feeling the smooth, slick feeling of silk.

“It’s silk-lined to make things a bit easier for those long play times,” Alvin told her as he bent her right arm at the elbow and attached the mitten part to her waist, then her left as well.

Becky tried to move her arms, only to find them securely latched in place. “Hero, what is this?”

“Shh, give me a moment,” Alvin said as he knelt and attached the straps that ran down the back, up and around her thighs, to buckle to the front of the jacket. Humming, he soon latched her elbows to the side of the jacket. Once she was fully buckled in, he wheeled the tall mirror over in front of her. “Okay, now open your eyes and tell me what you think of your gift.”

Blinking, Becky looked at her image in the mirror directly before her. The black jacket she wore was covered in d-rings. Her arms were completely encased down to the mitten endings for her hands, all of which had the same rings at intervals. Breath catching, she turned around to see the same attachment points lining the back of the jacket at regular points. “My very own bondage jacket?”

“Tada,” Alvin said as he came over to stand behind her. “You like it?”

“Yes,” Becky breathed out.

“It’s got everything,” Alvin said as he undid a few snaps that she hadn’t noticed, allowing her breasts to spill out of the front of the jacket. “Unfettered access for me.”

“Hero,” the single word held all of her emotions as her eyes started to mist with tears.

“Shh, time for the real fun,” Alvin said gently, bending her over the bench and attaching the lines to anchor her in place. “You can thank me later. First, though, I think it’s time to give my slut something she’s been wanting all day.”

He buried himself all the way to the base of his cock with the first thrust. Becky felt herself clamp down as her own orgasm was denied by the collar around her neck. “Yes, Hero, take me.”

Hand crashing down on her round ass, Alvin did just as she asked and took her. He was rough, brutal, and aggressive, but under it all, they both knew that he was doing what they both wanted and needed.

For hours, he played with her, denying her any orgasm while he came three times—once in each of her eager holes. The third time, he finally let her join him in orgasm as he flooded her ass with cum.

Shuddering, he finally pulled himself free of her and found her unconscious. “Maybe I played a bit too rough with her?”

Shaking his head, he left her there so he could grab the things he needed to clean them both up. They would both need a shower again in the morning, but they would be good for tonight. Unbuckling her arms, but leaving her in the jacket, Alvin carried Becky to the bedroom. His back wasn’t happy, but he didn’t hurt himself doing it.

Climbing into bed with her, Alvin snuggled against her back, his hands cupping her breasts. “Goodnight, my sex-crazed temptress.” A deep snore was her response to his words, making him chuckle. “My delicate gothic princess.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Alvin woke to Becky’s deep snores and an overwhelming urge to pee. Carefully shifting out from under her, so as not to wake her, he took care of his pressing need. Once that was done, he took a quick shower to clean himself better than he had last night. Standing in the doorway a few minutes later, Alvin watched her sleep for a short while before he went to the kitchen.

Taking care not to make noise, he assembled the items for breakfast and began to cook. The biscuits came out of the oven, steaming and golden brown. With those done, he switched his focus to getting the eggs started while he kept the gravy stirring.

Alvin heard a muffled sound from the bed as he paused to pour himself some coffee. He smirked as Becky sat up, her eyes slowly starting to focus as she struggled to untangle herself.

“Do you like your new jacket?”

The words got Becky’s attention, and she blinked as she saw him in just the apron, watching her and sipping coffee. Looking down at the contraption she was in, she smiled, “I was shocked last night—it has so many possibilities, but why am I still wearing it?”

“You passed out last night,” Alvin chuckled as he recalled her shuddering orgasm. “It was the perfect crescendo to the evening. Breakfast will be ready in a minute. Why don’t you go use the bathroom?”

“Fine,” Becky got out of bed. “You need to take this off first.”

Alvin gave her an evil smile, “No. It's not in the way of your bits, you can use the bathroom just fine.”

“But…” Becky let the word fade, “okay, fine.”

Watching her walk away, Alvin went back to cooking. He had food and coffee laid out on the table by the time she came out of the bathroom. “See? Perfect timing.”

“That was difficult,” Becky said, eyeing him. “Now take this off.”

“Still no,” Alvin smiled. “Sit and eat.”

“I can’t eat with these on,” Becky said, holding up her hands, still encased in their mittens.

Watching her, he could see the fight she was having between being forced to endure and her actual annoyance at being less than able in front of him. “I’ll give you a chance to earn it being removed,” Alvin said.

Eyes narrowing even as her desire started to pick up, Becky nodded. “Go on.”

“If you can get me off before I finish my breakfast, I’ll take off the jacket for today,” Alvin said before taking a big bite of his biscuits and gravy.

Becky quickly went under the table, taking his stiff cock into her mouth eagerly. Spreading his legs wider to give her better access, Alvin paused to enjoy the sensation. With a small moan, he forced his eyes open and went back to eating.

Alvin had difficulties with his meal; he kept wanting to drop his fork and grab Becky’s head. His eyes kept rolling back or wanting to close at her expert attentions. Breathing hard, Alvin felt the tingle that told him he was close, and finally admitted defeat. Setting the fork down, he reached down and grabbed Becky’s head. Tangling his hands in her hair right next to her skull, he took control of her movements, which was enough to push him that last little bit towards the finish line. Her happy moan vibrating down his length was the last straw. With a grunt, he pushed her all the way down, his cum pumping into her mouth as he shuddered in his seat.

Becky came out from under the table after he released her. Licking her lips, she smiled at Alvin. “Now, about my jacket?”

With a snort, Alvin got himself sitting upright, reaching out for the straps that led around her thighs. “Yeah, you won that round. I should have known better, or taken a bigger head start on my meal.”

Becky stuck her tongue out at him. “That would have been cheating. Besides, I need to thank you for the extra protein, it was tasty.”

Turning her around, he began unbuckling the straps that held the jacket closed. A wicked smile came to him as he worked on the buckles. Instead of finishing them, he turned Becky and pushed her onto the table, just to the side of his plate. “You’re welcome, but I should give you an extra reward for the compliment.”

“Hero?” Becky asked, then yipped as his hand came cracking across her ass.

“I know you love your spankings,” Alvin said as he held her down with one hand planted firmly between her shoulder blades, his other hand coming back for another slap. “Count them off, Gothy.”

“One,” Becky said breathlessly. “Two,” she moaned as he struck for the second time.

Alvin stopped on twenty, his hand stinging, and Becky’s ass a bright pink. “That will do,” he chuckled and finished unbuckling the jacket. “Now, eat your breakfast. It's already a little cold.”

Shrugging the jacket off and draping it over one of the other chairs, Becky nodded and gingerly took her seat. “Well worth it,” she murmured.

The couple ate their meal in silence once they had both settled in. Finishing his first, Alvin took the dishes to the sink and began cleaning them. “You need to take another shower, and we need to see if you can come and go from the portal as long as I stay inside.”

“You already showered, didn’t you?” Becky asked.

“Yes,” Alvin replied, “otherwise, I wouldn’t have had you under the table.”

“Point,” Becky chuckled, “you did take me in the end last night.”

“Right before you passed out,” Alvin chuckled.

“If someone hadn’t stopped me from orgasming all night, I wouldn’t have passed out when I was finally able to.”

“Maybe.” Alvin chuckled, then changed the subject, “We should make it to the forest today, hopefully.”

“We’re going into Bridgeport first. Are we going to see if we can find Lister and teach him some manners?”

“Maybe,” Alvin said as he took the plate from Becky. “We have stuff to sell, so I’d like to take care of that, and maybe get some info from the others in town before we decide what to do. It’s likely he has automated defenses in place, and we don’t know how those work.”

Becky frowned. “That’s a good point.”

“We’ll have to play it by ear,” Alvin said. “Now go get cleaned up, you dirty slut. We have things to do today.”

A small shiver ran down her body at his words. “If you taunt me, it might delay us leaving even more,” Becky said as she hugged him from behind.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you for a little bit,” Alvin said, his hands covered in soap as he continued to clean the dishes. “Now go get clean so I can finish this.”

Letting go of him, Becky slapped his ass hard and earned a yip from him, then darted toward the bathroom. “Hehe, got you,” she called over her shoulder.

Resisting the urge to rub the mark she left, Alvin thought of all the things he could do to pay her back. Finished with the dishes, he put the jacket away in the playroom, and got it tidied up before Becky came out of the bathroom.

“We’re going to kill some of the cattle before we leave,” Alvin told her. “Might as well take some of the easy XP that’s presented to us.”

“Makes sense to me,” Becky agreed, grabbing her clothing and beginning to dress.

“Jarvis, how did we do with the donations for the show that we put on last night?” Alvin asked casually, his eyes focused on Becky.

Becky’s face flushed red, her lips parting as she processed his words. “Oh, yeah, they can see us all the time now…”

“The button was activated this morning, sir. You won’t be given the XP until midnight. Until they calculate it and enter it into the system earmarked for you, I do not have the numbers.”

“Figures,” Alvin sighed. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow, then.”

Becky started dressing again. “Is that why you were so mean to me last night?”

“You mean all the extra attention I gave you while continuously denying you?”

“Yes.”

“Yup,” Alvin grinned. “Besides, you loved it. Just like you love the thought of your torment being watched by our fans. I see those thighs rubbing together, Gothy.”

Taking a deep breath, her head moved just barely up and down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hero.”

“Today is going to be potentially fatal, so no pleasure until we’re back in the room,” Alvin said firmly.

“No,” Becky whimpered softly. “Come on, Hero, at least just leave it at no touching.”

Lips pursed, Alvin considered it. “No touching, no orgasms, and no using toys.”

Becky sighed, “Fine.” Crossing the room to him, her clothing appeared on her. “At least I can still have the pleasure of kissing you.” Suiting action to words, she pushed him against the wall and kissed him hungrily.

Letting the kiss linger for a bit, Alvin enjoyed the moment before he pushed her gently back. “Time for business, Gothy. Out you go, then come right back in.”

Becky stepped out of the glowing door, then came right back through the portal. “Seems like it works.”

“Maybe we can use that,” Alvin mumbled, then shook his head. “Something to keep in mind,” he added, before joining her at the portal. “Ready for a moooving moment?”

Becky winced. “That one hurt me. If you start punning more often, you’re going to be a bully.”

Alvin flinched at her return pun. “Wow, you going to milk this?”

“No,” Becky smiled sweetly, “I’m going to cream you. Or is that too cheesy for you?”

Alvin paused, then shook his head. “I’m going to call it my loss on that double pun.”

Becky chuckled, “I shall retain my crown.”

“Queen of pun-ishment,” Alvin agreed. “Now let’s get going.”

“As you wish, Hero,” Becky said as she put her arm around his waist.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Alvin stood to the side of the Humvee, with Becky up in the gunner’s position. “I’ll pick the targets,” Alvin reminded her as he brought her Tommy gun up to his shoulder. “Ready?”

“Been ready,” Becky said as she waited for him.

“Here we go,” Alvin said as he picked out the first cow. Opening fire, he put two rounds into it, before switching targets. Becky got the M240B firing, which tore chunks out of the cow, then followed along with his marked targets.

About five cows in, the cattle finally broke the fence and ran away from the couple, right in the middle of them reloading. Alvin turned his attention to the bulls, who were in a pen on the other side of the barn. They milled around, clearly agitated by the noise and smell of blood. Once their guns were reloaded, Alvin picked out the next target and the killing continued. Much like the cows, the bulls eventually broke the fence and ran for it. It took more rounds to kill the bulls, so Alvin and Becky only managed to drop three before they ran off.

“Only eight,” Becky said as the M240B reloaded again.

“Actually, miss, it’s nine,” Jarvis advised her. “One other died near the creek behind the barn, due to the bleeding from the M240B.”

“Well, that’s something,” Becky said as she latched the hatch and got out of the Humvee. “You want the bulls or the cows, Hero?”

“I’ll go loot the bulls and grab the cow behind the barn,” Alvin said, handing off her Tommy so she could put it away. “See you back here in a minute so we can get on the road again.”

Back at the Humvee, Alvin chuckled over the loot he’d picked up. Two tanned hides and a set of bull horns had dropped from his kills. Setting the items into the back of the Humvee, Alvin waited for Becky to return.

“I didn’t expect the hides,” Becky said as she unloaded five of them from her bag. “Luckily, they stack to at least five.”

“That gives us more to sell when we get to a kiosk,” Alvin said as he climbed into the Humvee.

“How long is it to Bridgeport, Jarvis?” Becky asked as she got in.

“Normally it would be close to an hour, miss. Without knowing the conditions between here and there, though, it is hard to be certain.”

“An hour or more,” Becky shrugged. “That’s good enough. At least it isn’t snowing today.”

“Yet,” Alvin muttered as he got the Humvee started. “Next stop, hopefully Bridgeport, California. Funnily enough, we’re carrying enough illegal firearms to have made us into instant fugitives in the state, once upon a time.”

“The M240B would have done that,” Becky snickered.

“Okay, Jarvis, tell me where to turn,” Alvin said.

“I will, sir, no worries,” Jarvis replied. “By the way, sir, I’m parked on the outskirts of the town. Once you get here, it will be easy to meet without giving away that the car doesn’t have a driver.”

“Good to know,” Alvin chuckled. “Seen many people?”

“I cannot say, sir,” Jarvis apologized.

“It’s fine, Jarvis,” Alvin replied. “Any word from on high about us being the ones constantly behind the eight-ball?”

“Not at this time, sir,” Jarvis said.

Less than a mile down the road, Jarvis had Alvin turn onto a dirt road labeled NF-045. “This is going to be fun, isn’t it?” Alvin said.

“You wanted to stay away from cities and large towns,” Jarvis reminded Alvin. “This road will take you to Bridgeport without seeing a single structure. Most of the trip out of Bridgeport to the forest will be in slightly better condition than this.”

“Fair enough,” Alvin said. “Give us some music for the road, Jarvis.”

“Enjoy these selections,” Jarvis intone dryly.

A moment later, “Curvy Girls” started, making both of them laugh. The following selections spanned several musical genres, and kept them entertained. At one point, Alvin had to cross a mostly frozen wash that gave way under the Humvee, splashing slushy water up the sides of the vehicle.

The surrounding countryside was coated with a dusting of snow as Alvin continued the slow crawl they’d been at since turning on the dirt road. He ended up crossing the same wash twice more as they went.

Becky looked up at the grey clouds hanging over the mountains. “I think more snow is likely, Hero.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Alvin said, seeing some of the short scrub growing up as the road started to climb. “Look, greenery. Now we can go back to Beatty.”

Becky shook her head. “Trees? Bah, those are barely bushes.”

“Ah, well,” Alvin chuckled, “I tried.”

Alvin suddenly stopped the Humvee. Just ahead of them, the road dipped into another wash that was full of snow and ice like the road before. Unlike before, the road didn’t reappear for over two hundred feet.

“Well, this looks like it might be fun,” Becky said.

“Let’s see what this baby can do,” Alvin said as he rolled out into the wash. The front wheel broke the thin ice, dropping them into the partly frozen slush. Powering on, the Humvee became a miniature ice-breaker, creating a path through the freezing runoff.

Climbing up the path on the other side, Alvin frowned. “It strikes me that I don’t know how easy this would be without the Impervious rune or the Tires rune.”

“That is a good point,” Becky agreed.

“At least it seems to be working for us right now,” Alvin chuckled.

Not far past that section of road, Alvin was forced to a crawl again as the road ran right next to the runoff channel. Navigating carefully, Alvin was able to keep the Humvee from sliding down into the slush again. That section was maybe a mile long, but they travelled at barely more than an idle.

The road finally split away from the channel as they crossed over the summit and started downhill. Very shortly, the four feet of snow that covered the ground and road became their next problem. Alvin was ready for that, though. He put the Humvee into high-lock and just pushed right through the drifts, but quickly realized that he didn’t know where the road was.

“Well, fuck,” Alvin sighed as he pushed through another drift. “Jarvis, any help?”

“I can’t tell you where the road is, sir. I am sorry,” Jarvis said.

“Hero, I see the road,” Becky said. “I can see the edge of it just outside my window. I hate to say it, but if you go slow, I can probably keep us on it.”

“That’s easy to do, but I think we’re well past that estimated hour by now.”

Slowing to a crawl again, Becky kept them on the road, even when it took a couple of sharp turns. The crawl turned out to be beneficial, as they found another runoff channel to cross before the road straightened out.

Pulling the Humvee out of high-lock, Alvin let out a deep breath. “Jarvis, this path helped us test out the Humvee, but I’m not sure the Mustang could make it.”

“It is just as well that you asked me to stay on this side of the range, sir. I should also welcome you to California.” The snow began to fall at that moment.

“Seems the state wants to welcome me as well,” Alvin snorted. “At least the worst of it is behind us.”

Becky winced. “Hero… really?”

“We made it over the summit,” Alvin said.

Becky pointed ahead of them where a flat stretch of road started climbing again into the next mountain range. “The first one, maybe.”

“Oh. Well, that might change things.”

Alvin was not happy when they found an avalanche covering the road a few miles later. Grumbling the entire time, he let the Humvee climb the snowpack. When they found the road again, Becky touched his shoulder.

“Hero, we’re making it just fine. Calm down some. I can drive if you need me to.”

Shaking his head, Alvin glanced at her. “No, it’s fine. Just annoyed that the road was this bad. Maybe driving through the smaller towns would be okay.”

“Goldfield is a small town. In fact, I’m not sure they get much smaller,” Becky pointed out.

The road started down a noticeable decline, and Alvin felt a smile tug at his lips. “Fair enough, Gothy. On the plus side, we’re going downhill again.”

The road ended up going between two ridges of the mountain, which limited their field of view to a small sliver directly in front of them. The snow started to recede as they went further down in elevation. Eventually, the road let them out of the canyon and before them, a small town stretched out about a mile away.

“Sir, I suggest turning on the road to your left,” Jarvis said. “It will take you to a small milk farm that will take you into the town from a different angle.”

“Okay,” Alvin said, taking the side road. In the back of his mind, Alvin wondered why it would matter what direction they came into town from. Pushing the thought from his head, Alvin focused on the road, and what they would find in the town run by Lister.

Chapter Twenty-eight

“Sir, I’m going to suggest detouring even further south,” Jarvis explained as they came upon the burnt remnants of a milk farm. “It will take you past the hot springs and bring you to US 395 south of town. I can meet you there so one of you can take the Mustang.”

“I’ll drive her,” Becky said quickly.

“This is making me think that Bridgeport is going to be an issue, Jarvis,” Alvin said.

“You killed Lister’s men in Hawthorne, sir. If you come from that direction in a military vehicle, it might raise questions.”

“That is a good point,” Alvin agreed. “Fine. Lead us to the route you think makes the most sense.”

The road Jarvis led them to was barely a trail, and not well maintained at all. It was a bouncy ride until they finally hit a paved road. “Thank gods. That was getting a little unpleasant,” Becky said, rubbing her tits briefly.

“There will be a couple more of those trails,” Jarvis told her.

“Great,” Becky said as she dropped her hands from her chest.

Following the pavement brought them to a cul-de-sac where a few trails split off, leading to the hot springs. “Jarvis, I don’t see a road,” Alvin said.

“That is correct, sir,” Jarvis replied. “You will need to go off road for a bit. Drive off the back, near the green building. Follow the runoff channel until you find an ATV trail, then follow that.”

“Ugh,” Becky said, putting her hands back over her tits to stop them from bouncing so much.

Alvin chuckled, “Here we go.”

Following the trail, Jarvis eventually got them onto Mountainview Drive. The ground held traces of snow, but nothing like they had encountered in the mountains. Taking the right turn Jarvis directed them towards brought them to a ruined neighborhood. All that remained of most of the buildings were a few charred beams.

“Looks like this place was fun when the Rapture happened,” Alvin said.

“Burning the buildings seems to have been a popular method for a lot of people,” Becky said.

“I wonder if they did it to make sure the bodies were destroyed, or just for the ease of making sure the zombies inside didn’t get out?” Alvin muttered.

They passed a couple dozen former homes before they reached US 395. Ruffian sat just off the side of the road. Alvin came to a stop beside the Mustang.

“I’ll follow you,” Becky said, getting a kiss before she got out of the Humvee.

As Alvin watched her go, a small pang in his gut made him frown. “I’m not that clingy,” he muttered. “It’s just worry that something might happen.”

“I don’t know where the kiosk is in the town, sir,” Jarvis said. “You’ll have to ask someone.”

“Great. I’m sure this can’t possibly go wrong,” Alvin said, getting the Humvee moving again.

A few miles down the road, Alvin came up to a man-made roadblock, forcing them into the parking lot of the Bridgeport Ranger Office. As he rolled into the lot, two men dressed in police uniforms and carrying shotguns came out of the building and waved him to stop.

Alvin was briefly conflicted between stopping, killing the men, or just continuing to drive. He stopped, since he needed information about Lister and the location of the kiosk in town. “Jarvis, if they so much as twitch aggressively, you are free to engage.”

“Understood, sir,” Jarvis replied.

One of the uniformed men came around to Alvin’s side of the Humvee, while the other walked back toward Becky. Sliding the window open as far as it could go, Alvin gave the armed man a nod. “How can we help you?”

“I think that’s my line,” the officer chuckled. “Who are you, where did you come from, and where are you going?”

“Al, south, and maybe north,” Alvin replied blandly. “Frankly, we’re just happy to maybe find a safe place to rest. Is that possible here?”

The officer pursed his lips. “It is entirely possible, but we have some rules that everyone has to follow.”

“I’m all ears,” Alvin said, his eyes going to the mirror to check on Becky.

“If you wish to stay in town, you have to stay at the Bridgeport Inn. To conduct any business in town, you have to pay the fee before you use the kiosk or conduct any other private business with anyone inside the town limits. The last rule is to stay away from the Indians to the north of town.” The officer had been all business until he said stated the last rule, when his voice became angry.

“Stay at the inn, pay the fee, and no natives. Is that it?” Alvin asked.

“Basically. The obvious rules of no killing and such still apply,” the officer stated.

“Got it,” Alvin gave the officer a false smile. “So where is the inn, where is the kiosk, and who do I pay the fee to so I can use it?”

“Follow 395, which turns into Main Street. The inn is on the left. The general store, which has the kiosk, is across the street kitty-corner to the inn. Gary should be at the store, he’ll walk you through the process there.”

“Well then, we’ll head into town if there’s nothing else, officer.”

“Just mind yourselves, and remember you’re the outsiders here. We will favor those of us who have survived this bullshit over anyone else.”

“I get it,” Alvin said. “Have a good day.”

The officer stepped back and waved him through. Alvin took his time getting the window secured again. Glancing back, Alvin could see the second officer still at the Mustang, so he waited.

The officer Alvin had been talking to shook his head and advanced on the second one. A brief discussion followed before they both stepped away from the Mustang and Becky was waved past. Once she was moving again, Alvin got the Humvee rolling, Becky following along behind.

The center of Bridgeport looked mostly intact. A sign indicated where a Burger Barn had been, and the Walker River Lodge was gone. In their places stood all the original Settlement buildings. As Alvin drove slowly past, all eyes went to the two car convoy, as they were the only vehicles in sight.

Alvin spotted the sign for the Bridgeport General Store and parked just outside. His attention was brought to a large concrete structure just across the street. It had fixed gun emplacements on the roof, and fifteen-foot-high walls surrounding it.

“I bet you’re Lister’s place,” Alvin murmured as he got out.

Becky pulled in behind him, a disgruntled look on her face. “I swear to god, if another idiot tries to pick me up, I’m going to shoot him.”

Snickering, Alvin smirked. “Hey there, good looking. Want to get a room?”

Becky rolled her eyes. “Well, obviously it doesn’t count if you do it.”

“Figured,” Alvin said. “Let’s sell this stuff off, see what we can pick up here in town information-wise, then we can decide what to do from there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Becky said as she walked beside him. “That officer didn’t act like one. Something to keep in mind, if we have to deal with them again.”

“Sounds like a plan. First, we need to talk to a Gary, who should be here, to pay for the privilege of selling items in town.”

“Tax baron,” Becky snorted.

“Likely,” Alvin agreed as he opened the door for her.

The jingle of a bell accompanied the door opening, announcing them to the inside of the store. An elderly man greeted them, “Welcome to the store. Are you the two that Trevill was sending my way?”

Noting the CB on the back counter, Alvin nodded. “Gary, right? We just rolled into town and wanted to sell some stuff. The officer said that we had to pay a fee to do so, and then some kind of kiosk.” Alvin gave the older man his best bewildered look.

“You haven’t used a kiosk before?” Gary asked puzzled.

“We’ve been off the grid since just before things...changed,” Alvin lied. “This is the first town we’ve seen that isn’t overrun with zombies. How did you all manage to survive?”

Gary’s face clouded for a moment before he put on a professional smile. “We got lucky there. Lister showed up and got people organized. He set up the kiosk and explained what had happened to the rest of us. A few folks didn’t believe him…” Gary trailed off with a shake of his head. “Lister is the one in charge here in Bridgeport now.”

“If it’s not much to ask,” Alvin said, “can you show me how this all works? I don’t have any cash on me but I have a watch I can pay with, if need be.” Alvin pushed the sleeve of his duster back to show the gold Rolex.

Gary chuckled. “We only take XP in payment, though that watch might fetch you some. It’s been a week since I’ve explained this to someone, so let me walk you through it.” Stepping out from behind the counter, Gary led Alvin over to where the Exchange Orb and kiosk sat against the far wall.

“First thing we need to do is transfer the one thousand XP fee to buy and sell via the Orb. Touch the kiosk there and ask for your XP total so we can be sure you have enough, then touch the Orb and agree to the transfer.”

Alvin played along, doing as he was told and keeping a straight face at Gary’s whistle. “Is eleven thousand two hundred thirty XP a lot?” Alvin asked innocently.

“Only Lister and his men carry that kind of balance nowadays,” Gary said, eyeing Alvin warily.

“Let me try it,” Becky said, stepping over and doing the same. “I only have seven thousand, five hundred and fifty XP. What the fuck? I should have just as much as you.”

“Until recently, if you weren’t part of a group, you got XP based on what you helped kill. Now, you need to be part of the party that kills the zombie or mutant to get XP.” Gary said, trying to explain the hows and whys of the world to Becky.

“I have enough XP to use the kiosk then, right?” Alvin asked.

“Yes, we’ll use the Orb here for you to give me one thousand XP,” Gary said. “Lister will collect it from me later in the week.”

“I see,” Alvin said as he exchanged the XP with Gary, followed by Becky. “I wonder why we both have to pay, though? I mean, she’s with me,” Alvin asked.

“That is just the way Lister wants it done,” Gary said stiffly. “I don’t question his rules, and I would advise you not to either.”

“Can I use this thing to sell our junk now?” Alvin asked, shifting topics.

“That’s right, do you have the items on you?” Gary asked.

“They’re in the Humvee outside,” Alvin said. “Can I get your help with unloading it?”

“I’ll bring a flatbed cart around to the front,” Gary said.

“Hero, I’m going to look over this kiosk thing, is that okay?”

“Sure,” Alvin agreed. “Let me know what you find when I bring in the first batch.”

Once Alvin and Gary were outside, Becky pulled up her message from David. Sure enough, she had been right about David’s letter, and that he just wanted to check up on her. She sent back a reply, explaining what they had been up to, then closed down the message center and pulled up the rune page just as the guys came into the store with a fully loaded cart.

“That is a lot of stuff,” Gary was puffing, short of breath.

“And still another trip after this one,” Alvin said, clearly not out of breath. “Find anything, Gothy?”

“Gary, can you explain these to me?” Becky asked, pointing to the runes showing on the kiosk.

Chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath, Gary nodded and leaned against the side of the kiosk. “Each rune does something special, based on what you put it in,” Gary said, launching into a detailed explanation of each rune.

Alvin rolled his eyes at Becky behind Gary’s back as he started to shift the junk into the area for selling things to the kiosk. The kiosk just kept accepting the stuff until the cart was empty. Alvin went back out with the cart while Gary continued with his explanation.

When Alvin came back in, Gary and Becky were sharing a laugh, which made him wonder what had happened. Trundling the cart over, he started shoving the rest of the stuff into the receptacle. Once he was finished, he looked at the kiosk and saw the XP value next to a money pouch icon at the bottom of the screen.

“It really is a very good idea if you do that, especially if you’re going to stay in town,” Gary was saying when Alvin finally finished.

“My pills are almost out, so it’s a really good idea,” Becky agreed. “Hero, they have a type of birth control that can last for a solid month, and it also protects against all types of STDs.”

“Hmm,” Alvin put on a thoughtful look. “That could be useful, since I’m sure the birth control pills are going to be gone soon.”

“Oh,” Becky said, switching topics as she pointed at the money bag icon on the kiosk, “Gary, what is this?”

“That is the maximum you could get from the sale of your items,” Gary hedged. “If you tap the bag icon, it will show you all fees associated with using the kiosk.”

Becky touched the icon and her eyebrows shot up. “Half? We’d only get half because of this ‘convenience fee?’”

“That is the tax that Lister instituted on the kiosk. We all pay it,” Gary said tightly.

“Huh, so it's not just a tourist thing?” Alvin asked.

“No. It’s the same for buying or selling,” Gary added.

“We pay a fifty percent tax on buying goods, too?” Becky asked, almost shrieking in outrage.

“If you wish to use the kiosk, yes,” Gary replied, obviously not liking it any more than they did.

“What does the tax get used on?” Alvin asked in an offhand matter.

“Lister says it goes to upgrading the infrastructure of the town,” Gary said. “We lost all electrical and water when the Event happened. Lister has been getting it all back up and running since then.”

“Well, if it helps the town,” Alvin said slowly, “I guess we can’t begrudge you all that, right?” False smile plastered on his face, Alvin patted Gary’s shoulder amiably.

“Yes, it all helps us,” Gary said, his voice wobbling as he lied.

“Accept the XP, Gothy. Since I have more than you, we can balance it out this way some.”

Gothy gave him a searching look, then accepted the transaction and gained 8,230 XP. “Should we buy some of these runes?” Becky asked, still keeping up the pretense of not knowing what she was doing.

“Maybe after we grab a bite to eat and can think it over,” Alvin said. “Gary, any advice on where we can grab some food?”

“The Hippo just down the street should be open,” Gary said. “If you tell Olivia I sent you, she can probably knock a bit off the cost for you.”

“Sounds good,” Alvin smiled. “Any chance we can buy you lunch and get some more information about everything?”

Gary looked at the empty store and shrugged. “Sure. I’ll hang up a sign, so they can find me if they need me. You two go ahead. I’ll be over in a minute.”

“See you there,” Alvin said as he put his arm around Becky’s waist. “Let’s go stuff you full of meat.”

“Let’s, indeed,” Becky grinned at him. “See you in a bit, Gary,” she said, and gave the elderly man a wave as they left the store.

Chapter Twenty-nine

The Hippo Bar and Grill was just across the street from the store, between the General Store and the Inn. Entering the bar, they found a haggard looking middle-aged woman serving drinks to a wizened old man. Eyes narrowing slightly at the strangers in her place, the woman frowned at them. “Can I help you?”

“Gary next door sent us over, said this was the place for good food. He’s going to be joining us shortly, he said,” Alvin replied with a blank face. “This is the Hippo, right?”

The woman’s frown vanished. “This is the Hippo. Sit wherever you want and I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Alvin chose the table in the corner by the doors. It gave him line of sight on the whole room and wasn’t immediately visible to anyone entering. Becky took the chair to his left, which put her right next to the wall.

Olivia came over with two glasses of water and an apologetic smile, “Sorry about that. Things just haven’t been the same since the Event.”

“Zombies can upset all of us,” Becky replied.

“What can I get you to drink?” Olivia asked as she handed each of them a menu.

“Coke?” Alvin asked.

“Yes, we have Coke,” Olivia said.

“Make that two, please,” Becky smiled.

“I’ll be back to get your order in a minute,” Olivia said as she went to fetch their drinks.

“Is it me, or do the people here seem less than thrilled with their current lot in life?” Becky murmured.

“Yeah. Lister seems to be a tax baron, and kind of a dick,” Alvin nodded.

“What are we going to do?” Becky asked, but the jingling of the door opening interrupted Alvin’s reply.

Gary walked in and paused, then turned and found them. “Thought maybe you decided against my recommendation,” Gary said.

“Can’t wait to dig in, myself,” Alvin said. “Trail food just isn’t the same as made fresh, know what I mean?”

“I can remember those days pretty well,” Gary nodded. “C-rats are not my favorite thing in the world, either.”

Alvin mentally noted yet another ex-soldier who’d survived the Rapture. “I think they’re called MREs now,” Alvin chuckled.

“They are. I was out before they changed them over,” Gary shrugged. “Not that I missed much, from what I’ve heard.”

“You didn’t,” Becky said. “Dad was big on them for our camping trips.”

“That sounds tough,” Gary nodded. “I always took better food along camping. Jerky, at the very least.”

“Here’s your usual, Gary,” Olivia said, coming over to the table and placing a pilsner before him and sodas before the other two. “Have you had a chance to look at the menu?”

“We got caught up talking to Gary,” Alvin apologized. “I’d just like a burger and maybe some cheese fries,” the last was said hopefully.

“We don’t serve cheese fries, but I’ll see what we can fix up for you,” Olivia smiled. “What about you, hon?”

“I’ll take what he’s having,” Becky said, bumping Alvin with her shoulder.

Nodding, Olivia’s eyes tightened some when she really took a look at Becky. “Fine. And the usual, Gary?”

“Yup,” Gary grinned. “I told you years ago, I’d eat your reubens until the day I die.”

“Which you’ve managed to miss out on so far,” Olivia smirked as she picked up the menus. “Food will be out soonest.”

“No rush,” Alvin said.

“I was wondering, Gary—could you tell us about what’s happened in town since the Rapture?” Becky asked sweetly, with a bright smile, “I wonder if we could’ve survived if we’d been in town.”

Gary took a long pull from his beer and set it down. “It's not something we normally talk about. We all lost a lot of friends on that black day.” Gary paused, his eyes going distant for a moment. “I remember being in the shop. The radio was playing the Pope’s message when everything suddenly shut off.” Gary proceeded to tell them about how Bridgeport had endured the Rapture.

“Lister came into town from the south an hour into the Rapture. He had driven straight into the middle of town and calmly shot zombie after zombie. The survivors rallied around him and his never-ending gunfire. When the last zombie fell, he told them all that he could teach them about the changes and how to survive. He’d blamed the Native Americans who lived just north of town for the zombies that many of their friends and loved ones had become. A handful of townsfolk had tried denying his story, but a fervor had claimed the others, who all agreed with him. Lister led the mob to the small reservation where forty-five of the fifty-five Natives there had been ruthlessly cut down. The only reason there were any survivors turned out to be because of the shaman, who had somehow raised a shield of some kind which pushed Lister’s men off the land. Ever since then, the Natives were persona non grata in Bridgeport.”

Alvin was well into his burger and cheese fries by the time Gary finished his story. “That is some fucked up shit,” Alvin said.

Gary shrugged. “Nothing we can do about it now. That gave him the edge to push his agenda in the town. The kiosk and the fort across the street only solidified his position. He recruited the worst of the survivors, and named them his deputies. They raided the CHP office and dressed the guys out in those uniforms. Now their words are law, as if Lister himself said them. Half of them are out of town currently; they went to some place in Nevada after some depot. When they get back, you don’t want to be in town.”

Alvin’s smile was vicious. “I doubt it will be a problem.”

The jingle of the door admitting brought all attention to the three men dressed in CHP uniforms who swaggered in. They didn’t even look around, just went right to the bar and Olivia. “Olivia, we need food for Lister, and his XP tokens for the week,” one of them sneered at the waitress.

“I’ll go get the food, Larry,” Olivia said meekly, scurrying into the kitchen.

“Henry, go over to get the XP tokens from Gary. Useless old man probably forgot today’s the day he needs to pay up for Lister’s generosity and letting him keep his store,” Larry laughed.

Henry turned around to see Gary sitting with Alvin and Becky. “Hey, Larry, he’s here eating lunch. He shouldn’t be out of his shop before we collect today.”

Gary’s hands clenched on the table, his jaw setting, “I’ve had just about enough of this shit, and I’ve had a reuben already today.” The words were pitched too low to carry. Gary closed his eyes to try to find a bit of calm.

“Hey, old fuck, you got Lister’s XP tokens?” Larry laughed. “Or do we get to drag you over to him again?”

“Three on one seems like good odds,” Alvin said as he popped his last fry into his mouth.

“You the new people in town?” Larry sneered, looking Alvin over. The sneer became a leer as he looked at Becky. “You, however, are more than welcome in town, toots.”

Becky snorted as she took a drink of her Coke, “Ha, none of you are enough for me. Only Hero is tough enough to ride this ride.”

The three guys frowned and one took a step towards them. “Well, hell. I’ll be your hero, bitch.”

Becky began laughing, while Alvin snickered. It didn’t help the guy’s case when both Henry and Larry joined in. “Paul, you can’t even get hard if the smell of shit isn’t in the air,” Larry laughed.

“Fuck you, Larry, that was just one time in jail. It isn’t like I only do guys,” Paul snarled and turned on Larry, his hand dropping to the pistol on his hip. “And if you don’t knock that shit off, I’m going to get mad.”

“Go ahead, get mad. We all know you can’t shoot for shit,” Larry said, his hand hovering over his gun. “Now back down, or this is going to be the end of this constant bullshit.”

Alvin snickered loudly, “They can’t even get along with each other, and these clowns are Lister’s men?”

All three men pulled their guns on Alvin, who immediately held his hands up. “Look here, asshole, I’m thinking we should drag you off to Lister. Now get up nice and slow, and don’t make any sudden moves or we might have us an accident,” Larry snarled.

Alvin got up slowly, his hands in plain sight. “Sure you don’t want to wait for your men in Hawthorne to show up? I mean, you might need the other twenty odd men to be sure, right?”

All three looked puzzled and exchanged glances. That was all Alvin needed; his UMP appeared in his right hand while the Type 56 appeared in his left. “Down!” Alvin yelled at Olivia, who was coming in from the kitchen. All three men’s eyes went wide as Alvin opened up with both guns, a manic smile on his face as the trio returned fire.

Becky slammed into Gary, knocking them both to the floor as she summoned her shotgun to her hand. “Stay down,” she yelled above the gunfire.

Alvin was glad he had summoned his vest, as the first few shots hit him center mass. His fire was a little more sporadic than normal, since he was firing from the hip with both guns. Even then, he managed to chew through Paul’s health in short order, as he wasn’t wearing a Kevlar vest. The old man at the bar had turned to watch the firefight but stayed put otherwise, while Olivia had hit the floor at Alvin’s warning.

The first shot to Alvin’s face got his attention. Larry was trying to aim while Henry kept up cover fire. “Gothy, take Larry,” Alvin snarled, letting the UMP vanish and so he could use both hands for the Type. A second shot hit him in the face, sending pain flaring through his body. He gritted his teeth and put six rounds through Henry’s head in quick order. The boom of the shotgun was enough to make Larry flinch. The slug hit him in the chest, knocking him backwards out of his kneeling position.

“No one hurts my Hero,” Becky snarled as she got to her feet and advanced on Larry. Getting there just in time to see him applying a medkit, Becky gave him a manic grin. “Hope you have more of those,” she said as she pushed the barrel of the gun into his forehead and fired the next four shells in rapid succession, blowing his head apart. “Never mind, it’s a moot point now.”

Alvin applied a medkit to his own face, healing the damage he’d taken in the fight. With a sigh, Alvin looked at the blood splattered room and the multitude of bullet holes. “Sorry about the mess.”

Gary got to his feet slowly, shocked at the swiftness with which the couple had executed three of Lister’s men. “Lister is going to be pissed. When his other men get back from Hawthorne—”

“They won’t be back,” Alvin cut Gary off, his ears ringing slightly. “All of them are dead. They made the mistake of trying to force me to do what they wanted.”

“Gary?” Olivia asked, tears streaming down her face. “What am I going to do? Lister is going to kill me for this.”

“No, no he won’t,” Alvin said firmly. “I’ve had about enough of the bullshit going on here. It’s about time you all had your town back. And where is everyone who’s not one of Lister’s goons?”

“The farms,” the old man at the bar said. “The hundred or so of us left all work the farms and take care of the cows. Lunch is in an hour, they’ll flood back into town and have their break then. Lister’s goons will be out to talk to them, reinforcing his laws.”

“Are any of them redeemable?” Alvin asked.

“Trevill,” Gary cut in. “He was CHP, he was roped into the squad when he came into town the day after the Event. He’s been really unhappy, but Lister has his wife, so Trevill won’t cross him.”

“So add kidnapping to the rest of Lister’s issues,” Alvin said as he let both guns reload. “Okay. I’m going to need to know more about Lister’s home, and what I’m looking at. I think I should go say hi.”

“We’ll go say hi,” Becky said firmly.

“Fine, we’ll both go say hi,” Alvin conceded.

“You won’t go alone,” Gary said firmly. “I’ll get the others and we’ll end this today. I was afraid to act. They took the guns on the second day, claiming that they were upgrading them. Most of the folks who kept theirs back had accidents on the third day, and Lister collected their guns then. It was then we knew that we had made a massive mistake. Anyone who spoke out against Lister since then has either been forced into line, or has been killed.”

“Fine. Get your people together, we’re going to do this the hard way,” Alvin said as he sat back down. “Olivia, can I get another Coke?”

Chapter Thirty

Olivia was in a bit of shock, but she shook it off enough to bring more drinks to the table. Gary picked up his chair and the old man from the bar came over. “There are normally five of Lister’s men keeping an eye on the fields. If we took them out, it would leave him with maybe another ten inside his fort, and the two at the roadblocks to the south and north.”

“Are you up to taking out the sleazes at the south gate?” Becky asked. “I think Trevill might flip if we can get his wife away from Lister. You should explain that to him, Gary.”

“I’ll go,” the old man said.

“Anders, that might get you killed,” Gary said seriously.

Anders’ raspy laughter preceded his reply, “I made it through the war. If the damned Nazis couldn’t kill me, then no kid pretending to be a cop is going to.”

“Do you even have a gun?” Alvin asked.

“My Garand is still in the attic,” Anders said.

“Gary, do you have a pistol?” Alvin asked. “It would be better if you could switch up with Anders. He’ll want something more concealable than the Garand, and you can use the long gun in the fields with us.”

“I have something put away,” Gary said. “My Beretta can do the job.”

Anders nodded. “I’ll go grab my gun and meet you back here in ten.”

Gary got to his feet. “Same.”

When the two men left, Becky walked over and looted the corpses. She handed two XP tokens to Alvin. “There we go.”

Alvin absorbed the XP without paying attention to it while he finished off his second Coke. “Olivia,” Alvin said, getting her attention from where she was slumped against the bar. “The food was good, thanks.”

Eyes glazed, Olivia nodded absently. “You’re welcome.”

“Hero, I’m a little curious—why are we doing this exactly?” Becky asked softly.

“I’m pretty sure that if I kill Lister, I can mark the kiosk as mine, so I’ll get the fifteen percent from what they all buy. I just hope they pick a better leader. I also want to go see the shaman about the Orb we picked up, which we can’t do if Lister is calling the shots,” Alvin shrugged. “Selfish reasons, again.”

Becky chuckled, “Okay, then. I thought maybe you were going all paladin on me and wanting to right an injustice.”

Alvin rolled his eyes. “Gods, no lawful stupid for me. I’ll play it off that way for these people, at least some, but no, entirely selfish reasons.”

“How are we going to deal with the field guards and the northern checkpoint?” Becky asked.

Alvin grinned. “The old fashioned way. At range, with superior firepower.” Pulling the 700 from his backpack, Alvin set it on the table. “Sniping is always a good pastime.”

“I don’t have a good rifle for that,” Becky said plaintively.

“Yeah, which means you get the harder job,” Alvin said leaning forward. “You’re going with Gary to the north roadblock and taking out the two guards there. Use your charms to get close, then end them in brutal fashion. I’d suggest taking the Tommy instead of the shotgun for that one. It might not have the upfront punch, but for mowing down two people in the shortest time, it’s the clear winner.”

Becky nodded and fished the Tommy out of her fanny pack, switching it with the shotgun in her glove. “I’ll get it done. You sure you can take everyone in the field by yourself?”

“I’ll get it done,” Alvin gave her a smile. “Once you finish with the guys at the checkpoint, hurry over to the town, just in case one of mine runs for it.”

“Why don’t we send Jarvis over to deal with the roadblock?” Becky suggested. “Then I can go with you, or at least be in a position to intercept them easier. Gary will be there with the Garand, as well.”

Alvin nodded. “That works.”

The jingle of the bell brought both Alvin and Becky around, but it was only Anders and Gary. “We’ve switched guns already.”

“Anders, you got this?” Alvin asked to be sure, but the elderly man was wearing a smile.

“Been a long time since I had to put down evil men, but today seems like a good day for it, young man.”

“What’s the plan for the rest of us?” Gary asked.

“I’m going to send my Humvee over to deal with the roadblock,” Alvin said. “I need you and Gothy to intercept anyone from the fields who tries to make it back to warn Lister. I also need to know if there are any elevated positions I can use to get a good line of sight on the fields.”

“The barn on the north end of town is your best bet,” Gary said. “At least one of Lister’s men is always there to make sure nothing goes missing. Who’s going to drive the Humvee?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Becky smiled. “Is that it for the people not inside the fort?”

“Well, there is the roadblock to the west, but they’re two miles out of town.”

“Something to worry about after the fields are dealt with,” Alvin said. “Once they’re down, you’re going to need to rally those that will risk their lives against Lister and whatever he has left. I’ll get the Humvee to the west to stop those guys from coming back to help.”

“That will leave eight men in the fort with Lister,” Gary said. “We’ll have enough people for that.”

“Gary, is this the right thing to do?” Olivia asked from the bar, obviously still in shock.

“It’s the only thing to do. In time, he was either going to kill us, or we’d just give up living, Olivia,” Gary said, getting up to go to her. “Just keep your head down. After he’s gone, we’ll have to establish a council of some kind to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“I’d suggest reaching out to the Natives, as well,” Alvin said. “It would help them to know that reparations are starting.”

“That is indeed something we’ll have to atone for,” Anders said sadly. “I felt horrible when I found out about what happened. I used to know one of the Code Talkers. He would have been appalled.”

“Where were you at the time?” Becky asked.

“I was in the forest. I came back to find this place, as it is, just three days ago.” Anders checked the Beretta and pocketed it. “I was still thinking about what I could do to fix it when y’all showed up and got things rolling.”

“Well, this isn’t going to fix itself,” Alvin said, getting to his feet. “I’ll deal with the guy at the barn while you all get ready. I just need to stop by the Humvee first. If you see any of Lister’s men reacting, then open fire if they’re close enough. Once this is done, meet back here and we’ll figure our plan for the assault on the fort.”

“Don’t do us wrong, boy,” Anders said as he left the bar.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Gary said to Becky as they started leaving.

“I’m called Gothy. That back there is Hero, but you can call him Al,” Becky said as the door shut behind her.

“Olivia,” Alvin said firmly, bringing her head up. “Go home and wait for Gary to come get you. Tell your cook to take the day off, too.”

Nodding, Olivia moved as if in a daze. Once she was out of the room, Alvin headed to the Humvee and opened the door. “Ready for your part, Jarvis?”

“Indeed, sir,” Jarvis said as the Humvee started up. “I’m to deal with the north roadblock, then the west roadblock. What do you wish me to do after that, sir?”

“Come back here and wait for us,” Alvin said. “Time to go to work.”

Alvin started north, his Type 56 in his bag and the Remington 700 in his left glove. The streets were uncomfortably empty as he made his way through the small town. Once he was past the houses on the north side, he could see a large barn rising up near the fields.

Walking across the road like he belonged there, Alvin kept his eyes moving, looking for the guard. He frowned when he got to the fenced in yard and still hadn’t spotted him. Alvin wondered where the man was.

“Oh, no, don’t worry. I promised you, didn’t I, that when I hand out the tokens tomorrow, you’d get a little something extra?” a male voice said from inside the barn.

“As long as you promise. Jake needs the extra so we can get the medicine from the kiosk,” a female voice was saying as Alvin came alongside the barn.

“I promise, I promise. Now get on your fucking knees already,” the man snapped.

“But I’m not that kind of boy,” Alvin said, stepping into the doorway with his suppressed UMP in hand. “As for her getting XP, I’ll cover that,” Without giving the guy a chance to pull his pants up, Alvin squeezed off a burst of fire, making the woman on her knees scream.

As the man fell over, Alvin advanced and put more rounds into him, making sure to hit the head a few times. He switched the gun to safety and let it vanish back into his glove. Alvin looked at the cowering woman, who was stuttering incoherently, and sighed. Looting the corpse, he flicked the token at her, hitting her in the head.

“Take the card and go get your medicine for Jake,” Alvin said as he started to climb the ladder to the loft, “then stay hunkered down. I have some vermin to kill.”

Eyes wide, the woman watched him climb the ladder. She looked around, then saw the XP token on the ground next to her. That, and a few blood splatters, were all that remained of the guard Alvin had shot. “Who… are you?”

“Some call me… Hero,” Alvin said as he looked around the second floor and found the hatch to open the doors on that level. “Now get going.”

The woman scrambled away, pulling her dress up as she went. Alvin put her out of his mind as he looked out the door to find a winch anchored to the roof beam. Grabbing one end of the rope threaded through it, he tied that off to a beam inside. “Time for maximum effort,” Alvin sighed, using the other end of the rope to climb to the roof. The tricky part was grabbing the beam that the pulley was attached to and swinging himself up onto the roof. Panting for a moment, Alvin lay there and caught his breath before he summoned the 700. He got it set up and looked out over the fields, easily able to spot five of Lister’s guards among those tending to the crops.

“Wish I had a way of marking them, like most stealth sniper games do,” Alvin lamented briefly. “Then again, I might as well wish for a mini-map while I’m at it.”

Once he was ready, Alvin took his time finding the target picture for the first shot. “Okay Jarvis, show time,” Alvin muttered as he feathered the trigger. The 700 bucked in his grip, but made almost no sound thanks to the suppressor and the Silent rune.

The goon Alvin had aimed for definitely felt the shot. He jerked backwards like he’d been kicked by a mule, and looked around wildly to find the shooter, yelling for the other guards in the field. Alvin feathered the trigger three more times rapidly; two of the shots hit the man in the chest again, while the third hit him in the head as he ducked.

“One,” Alvin said, shifting his aim to the next guard in line, who had started toward the dead guy, “Back shots, eh? Good thing I’m an asshole.” The next goon took five shots to put down, and Alvin switched the gun over to safety so it would reload. “That was two,” Alvin said as he watched the other three all go low in the fields. The townsfolk had all hit the dirt long ago.

Chuckling, Alvin watched the three men all start running for town. The sound of the M240B opening up was clearly audible to everyone in the fields. The three men all went fully prone, looking for the source of the gunfire. Adjusting his position, Alvin took the gun off safety, and took aim at the men now belly crawling toward the sound of machine gun fire.

“This little piggy had roast beef,” Alvin chuckled at the unintended pun as he took aim at the back of the CHP uniform. He put the shots center mass, firing four times before the guy came to a jerky stop. “Three.”

The two guards left panicked, shooting their friend when the dead man started to animate. Scrambling to their feet, they ran for town. Alvin tsked as he took aim at the fourth goon, getting three shots in before Becky appeared and finished killing his target. The last gunman rapid fired at Becky, who ducked under her jacket and went around the corner. This left the guard’s back to Gary, who calmly stepped out and unloaded the entire en bloc clip into him, carefully sending the last round through the dead man’s head. Becky popped out to make sure hers had been shot in the head, too.

“West, Jarvis,” Alvin said. “Also, remind me to ask about some kind of communication device so I can talk with you outside of the car.”

Alvin switched out the 700 for his Type 56 and slid down the rope to the ground. Alvin smiled at Gary and Becky as they met up. “Well, that was some good work.”

“Are you sure the roadblock is clear?” Gary asked with a worried look.

“Not positive, but if it wasn’t, Jarvis would still be firing,” Alvin said. “Go get your people calmed down. Find Jake and tell him that whoever that woman was, she went to get his medicine.”

“You ran into Liz?” Gary blinked.

“I guess. I ran into a blonde who was going to whore herself for XP to get medicine for someone named Jake,” Alvin shrugged. “Lister’s man died with his pants down, and she was all kind of freaking out when I went up to the roof. I gave her the loot to get her out of my hair.”

“I looted the two back there,” Becky said.

“Then we need to get the three in the field and those over at the roadblocks,” Alvin said. “Up for a stroll?”

“Always, Hero,” Becky smiled as she fell into step beside him.

“See you back at the Hippo in a bit,” Alvin said over his shoulder to Gary, who watched them with a blank expression.

Chapter Thirty-one

Anders and Trevill were already there waiting when Alvin and Becky got back to the Hippo. Anders was grimacing while Trevill bandaged his arm. “You could have warned me,” Trevill was saying as the couple walked in.

“You shot Anders?” Alvin asked.

Shooting them a dirty look, Trevill went back to bandaging the old man. “He should have warned me before he gunned down Quintan. I shot him because he was killing someone.”

“I killed a vermin,” Anders said through clenched teeth, “not a person.”

“You think you’re just going to waltz into Lister’s fort and end this?” Trevill asked as he finished tying off Anders’ bandage.

“Pretty much,” Alvin nodded, “unless he has his door locked.”

“He has a dozen men inside that fort at all times,” Trevill said.

“No,” Becky replied, “he has three less than normal, and he might be wondering what’s taking them so long.”

Trevill paused. “You killed the team sent to collect the XP?”

“Yeah,” Alvin shrugged. “Once Gary gets back with the others, we’re going to go straight into Lister’s home and kill him. Is there anything we need to know, like if he keeps the women handcuffed to a throne or anything?”

“He keeps them in the bottom-most room, and it’s rigged to explode if he dies,” Trevill said.

“Nope, not possible,” Alvin snorted. “Electronics that advanced don’t work anymore. He would need a radio detonator, an old one that doesn’t use microchips. I’m guessing he might have it rigged, but with a hard switch. Is he always sitting in a specific seat?”

“Yeah, he has an ornate chair he likes to sit in,” Trevill nodded slowly. “It’s up on a balcony so he’s always looking down at you.”

“Is there any way to get in and down to the women that isn’t through the main door?”

“Yeah. There’s a back door, but it’s always guarded. The door to the room itself is always guarded, too. It's not easy to do, or I would have done it already.”

“Besides your wife, who else does he have in there?” Becky asked.

“Gary’s wife, Olivia’s husband, and another two dozen people.”

Alvin nodded. “So we need to go in the back, kill two guards without raising unholy hell, and then get the room open.” Looking at Becky, Alvin sighed, “Gothy, I need you to do the hard part.”

“You want me to walk in and deal with Lister?”

“I need to go in with Officer Trevill to get the room open,” Alvin said. “I doubt anyone here has the skills to do it.”

“I can do it,” Becky said. “You better be safe.”

“I’m not the one walking into the lion’s den,” Alvin said pointedly. “I don’t care how many of them fall, you stay alive.”

Becky nodded as Trevill stared at them. “Did you just tell her it's okay if we all die, as long as she stays alive?”

“Would you tell your wife differently?” Alvin said, turning his head to stare down the officer.

Trevill sat back as if he’d been slapped. “I wouldn’t put my wife in that situation.”

“Really?” Alvin said with a vicious smile. “Where is she right now?”

Trevill froze. “You son of a bitch.”

“Probably,” Alvin shrugged. “I’m sending her in with everyone else to buy the time to get your wife and the others free. So, yes, she is more important to me than this entire fucking town.”

Seething, Trevill’s lips pulled back into a snarl, “If this goes wrong, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Many have tried, but all have failed,” Alvin snickered.

“Technically, that isn’t true,” Becky deadpanned.

Alvin had to concede the point. “Fair enough,” he said with a nod at Becky.

The bell above the door rang as Gary walked into the bar, ending the conversation. “I’ve got eight men,” Gary said, letting the others file in behind him. “We’re ready to go.”

“You’ll be going in with Gothy,” Alvin said. “Officer Goodwill and I will be going in the back door to try and get down to the hostage room. Buy all the time you can before the fight starts. If you hear shooting, the cat is out of the bag.”

“Wait, why are you going with Trevill?” one of the guys asked.

Alvin looked at the very large bearded man and shook his head. “You don’t look exactly stealthy, okay? This is going to require skills that I have, and that I hope Goodwill has.”

“His name is Trevill,” the bearded man said.

Alvin shrugged. “That isn’t the point. The point is that, without keys, I’m the most likely to be able to get a door open.”

“Fucking criminal,” Trevill muttered, loud enough to be heard.

“Or I could just be a locksmith,” Alvin grinned. “Now, are there questions about what we’re doing?”

“You’ll get my wife out?” Gary asked.

“I’ll give everything but my life to try,” Alvin said. “You all need to keep Lister busy. If things go bad, then just do your best to kill him. Once we get the hostages safe, we’ll be coming up to help.”

“Doug,” Gary said, addressing the bearded man, “you’re going to be our reason for going in. We all know Lister hates you, but you haven’t given him a reason before.”

Squaring his shoulders, Doug nodded. “Papa Grimes would be proud to know that I’m going to be taking down a man like this.”

“Gothy,” Alvin said, getting her attention. “Hand me your MP5. I’ll want the quieter guns. I’ll give you my Type—that and the Tommy are your best bets.”

The group of townspeople watched the couple exchange guns with raised eyebrows. “You have used a kiosk before,” Gary said after a moment.

“Since the beginning,” Alvin said. “Sorry for the deceit earlier, but we wanted to get the layout of the town. We ran into Lister’s men back in Hawthorne, and then again at Nine Mile Ranch. Those encounters led us here to find out if they were just bad apples, or if Lister was. Since he is, and you’re all being ground under his heel, we figured we would help you.”

“So, this is just you being a good guy?” Trevill sneered.

“Officer, wouldn’t you help out others in need?” Alvin shot back.

“Of course I would. I swore to protect and serve,” Trevill said, getting to his feet.

“Good, then let’s go protect your families,” Alvin said, getting to his feet as well. “Give us a few minutes to get around to the back door, then go for it.”

Becky tugged him back to her and kissed him hard. “No dying.”

“No dying,” Alvin said, kissing her again before letting her go.

“She is the most important thing in the world to me. Keep her safe, please,” Alvin said.

“I’ll make sure she survives,” Doug Grimes said staunchly.

“If you can get my Stephanie out safely, I’ll give my own life to protect her,” Gary said with conviction. “We’ll buy you the time you need.”

“Hero,” Becky said, “maybe we should Contract them all.”

Alvin frowned. “That’s a big hit, and it's not like positive XP is going to be gained.”

Becky pulled his head down so she could whisper, “You can set the group as all loot goes to you, which means everybody is ours, instead of whoever kills them. If we do that, we can opt to not loot Lister and take all his shit.”

Nodding slowly, Alvin could see her point. “Devious. I love your plan, and you.”

“One more thing,” Alvin said as he stepped away from Becky. “We need to stop by the store, first. We’re going to make a party for this raid.”

Gary’s lips pursed. “Lister’s men were talking about that a few days ago, and how they were all going to get shared experience.”

“Correct,” Alvin said. “It requires a cheap Power from the store. Gothy and I will foot your cost for it, as well as upgrading your gun of choice so you don’t run out of ammo.”

Trevill blinked. “What’s the catch?”

“We get the loot from taking Lister down,” Alvin said simply. “That’s it. We’ll be leaving town after Lister is gone. You’ll be on your own to figure out who’s going to run your town and how it’s to be run.”

“I’m in,” Gary said.

“Me too,” Doug added.

One by one, the others all agreed, even Anders. “That’s eleven of you,” Alvin said. “We can just afford this. Let’s get geared up, and then we’ll go depose this dictator.”

Chapter Thirty-two

Walking across the street with Trevill, Alvin took a good look at the fort that took up the entire block it sat on. The walls were smooth concrete, and a turret was mounted at each corner. The massive doors were both open, letting anyone walk right into the yard. Alvin shook his head as he looked at the front of the building. The whole first floor had no windows, which Alvin had to admit was a good defensive idea, but it lacked any way to shoot from inside.

Alvin whistled softly as they passed a parking area on the side of the building. An impressive collection of classic cars was parked there. Slowing behind an old Bentley in perfect condition, Alvin resisted the urge to touch the car.

“That is what Lister uses when he drives around town,” Trevill told Alvin.

“At least he has some taste,” Alvin said as he started walking again.

Rounding the corner to the back of the building, Trevill stopped as they came to a reinforced steel door. “Remember, let me do the talking,” Trevill said softly before he knocked on the door. The knock had a rhythm to it, but it wasn’t the standard shave and a haircut.

A small hatch in the door slid open. “What?”

“It’s Trevill. I’m here for my weekly visit with my wife,” Trevill said flatly.

“You see her on Saturdays,” the man inside snapped.

“Lister said I could see her once a week for two hours,” Trevill snarled. “It was never stated that it had to be a specific day. Now let me in Andrew, or so help me, I’ll beat the shit out of you tomorrow.”

“I don’t know why Lister puts up with your lip,” Andrew sneered as the heavy bolts were pulled back. “Fine. Come on, then.”

As the door opened, Trevill grabbed Andrew, pulled him out of the building, and slammed him into the wall. “I lied about not beating your ass,” Trevill snarled as he slammed his fist into Andrew’s diaphragm, driving the air out of the man.

Alvin summoned the MP5 to hand while closing the door, and waited as Trevill vented some of his anger. When Trevill released Andrew, Alvin knelt on the beaten man’s gut. “You chose the wrong leader,” Alvin said simply as he pressed the gun into the man’s chest. A quick rapid tap of the trigger sprayed blood up around Alvin. Once Andrew went limp, Alvin moved the gun to his head and pulled the trigger once.

Trevill was looking at Alvin with disgust when Alvin stood up from the dead man. “Problem?”

“You didn’t need to shoot him that much,” Trevill said.

“Actually, yeah, you do now,” Alvin sighed. “Going to have to teach you all the newest rules to the game, it seems. That will come later, we have a mission right now.”

Shaking his head, Trevill opened the door. “We still need to deal with the next one.”

Alvin shrugged as he put the MP5 back on safety and willed it into his glove. “After you, Officer Goodwill.”

“My name is Terrence Trevill, not Goodwill,” Trevill snapped.

“Terrace Goodwill,” Alvin nodded, “I got it.”

“Fucking asshole,” Trevill snarled as he started into the building.

Alvin knew he probably shouldn’t needle the deputy so much, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself. Taking a quick moment to loot the body, Alvin absorbed the XP token and wondered if he would get a rune or something off the next goon. Strolling along behind the officer, Alvin closed the door, but didn’t latch it, thinking they might need to get people out quickly.

A table and chair sat just inside the door. On the table was an unlabeled bottle and a deck of cards. Alvin picked up the bottle, thinking it could come in handy, and took a sniff. The smell of alcohol was strong. Alvin followed Trevill as the former deputy turned left down the hallway.

It wasn’t a long walk before Trevill came to a stairwell that went down. Following along behind, Alvin wondered what kind of complications were going to spring up. The stairs had landings that Trevill went right past. Alvin wondered what each floor might contain, but kept following his guide.

At the bottom, the stairs ended at a short hall. A bored looking man sat at another table, playing solitaire. Behind him was another reinforced steel door, with a normal looking door across from him. He looked up when Trevill and Alvin appeared.

“Trevill? You’re not supposed to be here for another few days,” the guard said as he stood and put his hand on his pistol.

Trevill came to a stop, forcing Alvin to do the same. “I can come once a week. I just wanted to see her today. Gary’s son came into town today, too,” Trevill hitched a thumb at Alvin, “He’s passed on his visit with his wife so his son could see her instead.”

“Lister didn’t say nothin’ about this,” the man said as he eyed the two men.

“We just came from seeing him,” Trevill sighed. “Fuck, if you make me go back up there and explain this, we’re both going to get our asses chewed. Do you want to give up some of your perks?”

The man licked his lips thoughtfully before shaking his head. “Fuck no. I get first dibs on any women brought back from Hawthorne. No way I’m going to jeopardize that.”

“So just let us see our family—we even go one at a time,” Trevill said.

“Fine, you first. I’ll chat with Gary’s son. What’s your name?” the man asked Alvin suspiciously.

“Leon,” Alvin said.

“Fine, Leon, you just stay right there. Trevill, go ahead into the visiting room. I’ll get your wife and bring her over.”

Trevill nodded. “Appreciate it.” He walked up to the guard, who was taking a drink from his own bottle, and smiled. “I mean it, Zach, this means so much to me.”

Zach wasn’t prepared when Trevill took the last two steps toward him, nor for the sudden fist to his throat as he was drinking. Alvin rushed down the hall as Trevill slammed his foot down into Zach’s chest.

“She told me what you do to her when you bring her to see me, you piece of shit!” Trevill snarled as he continued to stomp his boot into Zach, who was trying to curl up into a ball.

Alvin hip checked Trevill away in time to stomp on Zach’s hand, which had been reaching for his gun. “Rage is fine, but if you get shot, it ruins our chances here.” Alvin didn’t summon a gun; instead he knelt down next to Zach and pinned the man’s freshly crippled hand under his knee. “As for you, I’d normally do this differently, but we need it to be quiet.”

Taking out the bottle he had put into his bag, Alvin shoved it into Zach’s mouth and upended it, making the man drink. Choking, Zach did his best but he couldn’t keep up. Gagging as he was forced to drink the bottle, Zach tried to struggle away, but Alvin just hit him in the balls.

A whimper was Zach’s only reply as his eyes rolled up in his head. Alvin sighed as he smashed the bottle, getting sharp points. “This is not going to be pretty—”

“Wait, what are you doing!?” Trevill said.

“Killing him quietly,” Alvin said as he took the keys off Zach’s belt and tossed them to Trevill. ”Go get them free, you don’t want to be here for this.”

Trevill got the reinforced door unlocked and went inside. Alvin frowned as he looked at the jagged points on the bottle. “Even I don’t want to do this. I need to pick up a good knife soon.” With that said, Alvin began digging the sharp bottle into Zach’s neck.

Zach came awake with a gurgle as the bottle began digging into his neck. He began flailing at Alvin to get him to stop. Alvin grimaced and slammed his hand into Zach’s balls repeatedly until he stopped trying to fight.

“Wrong leader,” Alvin muttered as he finished killing Zach with the broken bottle. Alvin stood up and had to chuckle as the blood liberally coating him slid off his clothing. Taking a moment to wipe his hands off on Zach’s pants, Alvin picked up the chair and began bashing Zach’s head in to make sure he wouldn’t reanimate.

Just as he was finishing with his gruesome task, the first few people came out from the room behind the steel door and found Alvin standing over the mangled remains. An elderly woman screamed and fainted into the arms of a middle-aged man.

“Who are you?” the man said as he started to pull the old woman back towards the door.

“He’s with me,” Trevill said from behind the man. “I know it's bad out there, but we need to go that way to get out.”

Before more could be said, Alvin knelt and looted the body, taking the XP token and using it. With the body gone, the others weren’t as skittish to walk past the pool of blood that Alvin stood next to.

“Where did that asshole Zach go?” one of the people asked.

“Away,” Alvin said with a tight smile. “Which way to the room where the others are?” Alvin asked.

“When we get up the ground floor, go the other way,” Trevill said as he held onto his wife a little tighter. “I’ll get these people to safety.”

“Works for me,” Alvin said and started to walk past the others. “Excuse me, folks, but more people need killing.”

Everyone gave Alvin room as he went past them. Breaking into a jog once he made it past the hostages, Alvin went up the stairs two at a time. A startled exclamation as he went past the first landing made him come to a stop and summon his UMP to his hand. Pressing himself against the wall, Alvin waited.

A moment later, a goon poked his head into the stairway. Alvin stepped into him and began squeezing the trigger quickly. The sound of muffled gunshots and the screams of the man echoed down the hall and stairs. Alvin shot the man a dozen times, putting the last one through the corpse’s head. The body made a wet sound as it fell. Alvin looted the body, getting a 9mm handgun with two runes on it as loot, but no XP token.

Trevill came racing up the stairs to find Alvin next to another pool of blood. “What happened?”

“One of them came from this way,” Alvin said. The sound of distant gunfire echoed in the room. “Fuck!” Springing to his feet, Alvin took off at a run. “Get them out!”

Putting the UMP on safety, Alvin made it vanish into his glove as he pulled out the MP5. At the top of the stairs, he saw a man running ahead of him. Hip firing on the run is not known to give good accuracy, so Alvin emptied the magazine, slowing to put the the last few shots into the dead man’s head as he went by the body. He switched out the MP5 for the UMP as he ran.

A hallway split to his left with a steel door at the end of it, the sound of gunfire coming from behind it. Alvin almost went that way, but instead rounded the corner and found a set of stairs that led up. Sprinting to them, Alvin heard the gunfire lessening, and laughter coming from ahead of him.

“I told you if you ever fucking tried anything, your families would die! Yet you still came here to try and fuck with me!? Well now look at you all, dead or bleeding out. Didn’t you think I’d have been preparing for this day? Sure, you killed some of my men, but when the rest get back, we’ll be butchering the rest of your friends to teach the others a lesson they won’t ever forget.”

“Lister? You still haven’t killed me,” Becky’s voice barely reached Alvin as he went up the stairs three at a time.

The sound of gunfire drowned out any further conversation. Alvin went through the open doorway, finding himself on a balcony where two men manned M2HB machine guns, and were firing down at something, or someone. Between them, laughing with his head thrown back, was a pug ugly man.

Bringing the UMP up, Alvin fired controlled shots into the man on the left. The second shot jerked the gun’s line of fire to the left. The third and fourth shots made the goon stop firing, while the seventh and eighth rounds killed him.

The loss of one gun brought Lister’s attention to the dead man, but before he could do anything more, Alvin shot down the other gunner, leaving Lister and Alvin alone on the balcony.

Lister suddenly held a massive rifle and immediately began firing at Alvin. The first shot caught Alvin in the head, blurring his vision briefly as he was spun away from Lister, the UMP flying from his hands. He pulled his coat up over his head, hunkering down as the heavy impacts hit his duster, knocking Alvin prone.

As soon as the firing stopped, Alvin rolled over and brought the MP5 to his hand. Firing with controlled anger, Alvin aimed at Lister’s ungloved hands. Lister’s eyes went wide, as he hadn’t expected anyone to survive the onslaught of his gun. Half of Alvin’s shots missed, his vision still blurred. Most of his shots that actually hit Lister hit him in the chest, but a few did hit him in the hands, forcing him to drop the big gun.

Lister yelled something, but Alvin’s ears were ringing too badly from being that close to the massive rifle. Pulling his handgun, Alvin fired the entire magazine into Lister’s snarling face. Laying there as his face shredded under the onslaught, Alvin grinned manically. When Lister’s body fell back, Alvin allowed himself just a moment to catch his breath before forcing himself to his feet and holstering the pistol. Stumbling to the railing, he looked down to see most of the townsfolk who had come dead and in pieces, but Becky was getting to her feet unsteadily.

Alvin yelled down at her, then realized he couldn’t hear his own voice and that his face still hurt like hell. Slapping a medkit on himself, noise came rushing back, though it mostly consisted of the sounds of the wounded. Becky looked up at him, her chest a bloody mess as she pressed a healing item to it.

“That wasn’t fun,” Becky said, looking up at him. “You got here just in time, Hero.”

“You almost got killed,” Alvin said. The relief of her being alive started to wash over him, making him grab the rail to stay standing. “Scared the fuck out of me when I heard you taunt him.”

“You made it,” Becky said, looking over the dead and wounded. “Want me to help them?”

“Do what you can. I’ll loot these idiots and then meet you out front.”

“You got it,” Becky said, her smile faltering only for a moment before becoming brilliant.

Turning away from the railing, Alvin looted the two gunners first. They only gave him XP tokens, which he used. Lister, though, he declined to loot and picked up the heavy rifle. As he did, the rifle identified itself as a M82, but didn’t give him anything more.

Alvin snorted, “I survived this?”

Sticking it into his bag, Alvin stripped off Lister’s clothing and fannypack, leaving him in a pair of silk boxers. Picking up the UMP from where it had fallen, Alvin put the safety back on and let it vanish into his glove, followed by the MP5, which he had left on the ground. With that done, Alvin draped the dead man’s clothes on his shoulder and started to make his way out of the building.

Alvin considered what it would take to fix his duster, which had taken the brunt of the damage from the M82. Becky would need to get her gear fixed soon as well, after taking fire from both of the M2HBs.

The town would be in turmoil now that Lister was gone. Some would try to push their own agenda on the others, and Alvin didn’t want to stick around for that. With Lister gone, the Native Americans might be amenable to talking, but Alvin didn’t know if it was worth the risk to find out about the Mysterious Orb they’d found.

Making it back out to the front of the building, Alvin found Becky talking with Gary. “We’re very sorry for the losses, but now, you all have a chance to make a real effort at living. I’ll always remember Doug pushing me behind him when the guns opened up that first time.”

“He always wanted to go out protecting others, just like his father, Ryan,” Gary said.

“Gary,” Alvin said in greeting, then grabbed Becky and dipped her into a passionate kiss.

“Did you get them out?” Gary asked.

Alvin didn’t reply, too busy making sure the woman he loved was still alive and functional. When the kiss finally ended, Alvin blinked. “Huh? What was that, Gary?”

“Did you get them out?” Gary asked again, trying to hold back his nerves.

“Trevill led them out while I came to rescue you guys,” Alvin said as he adjusted the clothes he had on his shoulder. “But we had them near the door, last I knew. Maybe he took them to the Hippo?”

“I’ll go check,” Gary said and hobbled off, one of his legs still wounded.

“You okay?” Alvin asked, turning all of his attention back to Becky, who was staring at him with smoldering eyes.

“I’m excited as fuck, and I’m thinking of dragging you to the ground right here and now,” Becky said as she took a deep breath to calm herself some. “I was badly hurt, but you made it in time for me. The big guns really did a number on me; some of my gear is pretty fucked up. Luckily, I was smart enough to use my jacket to help cover my head.”

“I understand. My duster got badly damaged,” Alvin said, showing her the holes in back of his, but her jacket had even more. “Going to need a leatherworker soon. We also need to do an actual inventory of all of the shit we’ve picked up since we started this trip from Green River.”

“We might need to think about grabbing backup clothing when we do that,” Becky suggested. “Now, how about we go have a celebration of our own?”

“We should make sure they’re good first, but I promise you a long night. I’m thinking some nipple clamps, a panty vibe, and some good flogging before we get to the main course,” Alvin grinned.

“You’re so good to me,” Becky murmured as she copped a quick feel. “But I’ll wait if you promise me that, at least.”

“Oh, I promise,” Alvin smiled, glad they had both made it through their closest call to date.“But before we go interrupt their reunion, we should go back inside and give the place a good once over,” Alvin said. “You are to behave yourself, we’ll get to fucking later.”

“I promised to wait, Hero,” Becky said, batting her lashes at him.

“I’m just reinforcing it so you do,” Alvin said as he slipped an arm around her waist.

“It’s hard to be bratty when you do that,” Becky pouted at him.

“Yeah, but if I don’t, then you very likely will find a bed and drag me into it,” Alvin chuckled.

“Well, yeah,” Becky giggled.

Shaking his head as they entered the main doors of the keep, Alvin wondered how long it would take to search the building.

Chapter Thirty-three

Two hours had passed before they made their way back out of the building. Alvin was still chuckling over some of the things they’d found. One of Lister’s men had a serious foot fetish; the collection of magazines had been sizeable. They did find a considerable number of guns and clothing that might have been upgraded, so they took all they could. They took six more bags, each with more storage than a regular bag, to help them carry all the loot.

“It’s nice that they removed the one bag of each type limit,” Becky commented as they piled things into the Humvee. “We going to do the selling and things after Jarvis gives them a once over?”

“That’s the plan,” Alvin said. “We’re late enough as it is, and Officer Goodwill is likely to be suspicious of our prolonged absence, so we’ll go make a showing before we head home for the night.”

“I don’t want to wait,” Becky murmured as she nipped his ear.

A shudder ran through him at her bite. “Behave, or I’ll change my plans for the evening.”

Muttering about him being unfair, Becky leaned against his side as they walked to the Hippo. Alvin kept his face blank as he smothered his laughter at her antics.

The pub appeared packed as they walked in, the booths and the tables full of townspeople. Gary was at the door and slapped Alvin on the back as soon as they entered. “Everybody!” Gary yelled, and waited a moment for everyone to quiet down and look his way. “Here they are, the pair that helped us remove Lister and gave us the chance to have a free life again, without fear of persecution.”

A loud cheer greeted the couple, who blinked blankly at the crowd. When the cheering stopped, everyone seemed to be waiting for something, so Alvin spoke up. “We’re glad you’ll all have the chance to live again, free, as you should be.”

Another loud cheer greeted his comment and people opened up an avenue for them to reach the bar, where Olivia was motioning them over. She had two mugs waiting for them once they’d made their way through the crowd of adoring townsfolk.

“You have free food and drink here any time you want,” Olivia said, earning another round of cheering. Once the noise died down, she looked at the two a bit more firmly, “but, please, no more shooting inside.” That earned a round of laughter, especially as some of the more obvious bullet holes were pointed out to those who hadn’t been there at the time.

“Thank you,” a short woman with dark complexion, who was standing next to Trevill, said, “for helping my husband get us out of the building.”

Smiling brightly for the woman, Alvin extended his hand to her. “It was a pleasure working with your husband, ma’am. Officer Trevill is a man of strong moral character and always gives people a fair chance.”

The woman beamed back at Alvin as they shook hands. Behind her, Trevill’s face was blank. “I fell in love with him for those reasons,” the woman said as she leaned against Trevill.

“He’s a lucky man,” Becky added with a smile that looked as real as Alvin’s.

“Dear, we should let the others thank them,” Trevill said, trying to lead his wife away.

“I hope to speak with you again later,” she said, allowing herself to be led off.

Alvin and Becky endured everyone wanting to thank them personally over the next hour. Alvin was just getting to the point where he had had enough when Gary called for quiet again.

“We have some big decisions to make in the next few days,” Gary said once he had the floor. “We’ll need to figure out who should be on the council, what we should do going forward from here, and how we apologize to our neighbors.”

“I was planning on visiting them tomorrow,” Alvin said. “I wanted to ask them a couple of questions. I can let them know that Lister is dead and that you’re hoping to make amends.”

Gary nodded. “Please extend the olive branch for us. It might be better if it was you, since they seem likely to hate us at the moment.”

“We’ll get it done,” Alvin said. “We’d also like to hit the kiosk tomorrow before we go.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Gary said easily. “I’ll make sure that the store is open in the morning for you.”

“With that said, I’m a little exhausted and need to get some sleep,” Alvin said, causing a lot of people to ask them to stay longer. “It’s been a really long day,” Alvin explained. “We came from Nine Mile Ranch, where we dealt with a few of Lister’s men before we came here and helped you. Depending on how things go, we might stay all of tomorrow,” Alvin paused as the crowd urged him to stay. “We’ll have to see how things look in the morning. Until then, we wish you all a good night.”

Alvin led Becky back through the crowd and Gary walked out with them. “Do you have a place to stay for the evening?” Gary asked as he hobbled with them toward the store.

“We’ll grab a room at the inn,” Alvin said.

“I’m sure that will be fine,” Gary said. “I’ll send Emily over to get you a room.”

Alvin and Becky drove over to the inn and parked near the rooms, then walked back to the front. They were met by Trevill and his wife. “Emily?”

“Yes,” Emily smiled. “I’ll grab you a key, one moment.”

She darted inside the office, leaving Alvin and Becky outside with Trevill. “What are your plans now? Moving into the fort tomorrow and becoming the new ‘leader?’” Trevill glared at Alvin as he asked the question.

Laughing, Alvin shook his head. “If I wanted that, I would still be in Green River. You need to lighten up, Officer Terrace Goodwill. Your wife would object to your suspicions, I think.”

Trevill’s lips pulled back and he was about to say something, when Emily came out of the office with a key. “You’re in the first room. It's not like we’re bursting with customers… not like we used to.”

“I did notice the abundance of places to stay,” Alvin said, accepting the key. “This was a popular town.”

“The hot springs and the sheer number of historical state monuments used to bring us a lot of people,” Emily said sadly. “It doesn’t look like things will be like that again.”

“Give it some time,” Becky said. “It might be a few years, but there’s a rumor that if the kiosks are connected, then things, and maybe eventually even people, could be transported between them.”

Emily’s eyes went wide at Becky’s words. “Really? We won’t be alone? We can talk to others?”

“If they’re on the same kiosk connection, yes,” Alvin said.

“How do we do that?” Trevill asked.

“One theory is that a trading house of some kind might be needed,” Alvin said. “Another theory is that someone like Lister would need to connect them together.”

“Lister would never have done anything like that,” Trevill smirked.

“Someone like Lister, in the sense that they aren’t native,” Alvin said. “I’ll try to explain it better to Gary tomorrow,” Alvin gave a big yawn. “I’m just too tired to put it into words right now.”

“Oh, I understand,” Emily said. “Come on Terrence. We should let them sleep, and Gary wanted to talk more about the town.” She began to tow Trevill away while he kept glancing back suspiciously at the two of them.

Watching them go, Becky murmured softly, “You make the best friends.”

“I just can’t help but needle some people,” Alvin chuckled as they went towards the vehicles. “Okay. Let’s grab everything and get into the room, then I’ll use the button so we can go to our room.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Becky husked.

“I’ll get you all set up, then do some work,” Alvin said as he started grabbing stuff from the Mustang’s overloaded trunk and backseat. “I’ll take a few breaks to check on you, and when I’m done with that, then I’ll finish what I started.”

Becky shivered. “Going to tease me and leave me bound while you work?”

“Oh yes,” Alvin said as he got the door to the inn room open. “I have to make sure you’re properly squirming.”

“So mean, and so good,” Becky purred as she followed him into the room, switching on the overhead light with her elbow as she went by. “How quaint,” Becky said as she looked at the simple room. “It’s times like this I’m glad we have our base.”

“No, it’s at times to come soon that you’re happy about our base,” Alvin chuckled. “Now, let’s get this done. You’re going to need to bring all this into the base from the room.” Triggering the UI on the bathroom door, Alvin turned back to the parking lot. “I’ll get stuff into the room, you take it into the base.”

“As you wish, Hero,” Becky said as she watched him go.

It didn’t take too long for them to bring in all the stuff they had collected that they wanted appraised. The only odds and ends not moved inside were the drake teeth and claws, and the cow hides.

Locking the inn door and turning off the light, Alvin grabbed the last load of stuff and carried it into their base. The moment he was clear of the door, he was tackled to the ground. “Gah!”

Becky pinned him under her. “Got you, Hero.”

“Gothy, get off—” Alvin began before a wad of material was shoved into his mouth, cutting off his words.

“Nope. If you can’t talk, you can’t command me,” Becky giggled as she got the gag secured in place. “Now for your arms.”

Becky didn’t expect Alvin to shove himself straight up off the ground, and she fell off his back. He got his hands on the buckle holding the gag in place, but didn’t have it undone by the time Becky grabbed his arms.

“No, I need this… please,” Becky said, her mouth next to his ear, “Hero.”

Her pleading tone was clear to Alvin, who stopped trying to unbuckle the gag and nodded. “Az ew ifth,” Alvin said around the gag.

“Thank you,” Becky whispered before she shoved him back to the floor. Her tone became commanding, “Get your clothes off. I want my favorite treat and I want it now!”

A couple of hours later, Becky was asleep on the bed with a beautiful smile on her lips. Alvin staggered and got out of bed, grabbing a quick shower to help him feel a bit more alive. Going back to the bedroom, he looked at Becky and felt a pang of sympathy for her. She had really taken to making him do everything she wanted, even slapping him a few times when he didn’t listen, but he took it all in stride for her. When they were finished and he lay there holding her, she cried a little and thanked him repeatedly before falling asleep.

“Jarvis, is all the shit we brought in tagged now?”

“Yes, sir,” Jarvis replied softly. “Sir, I’m sorry if this is a bit too personal, but I wanted to say that you really do take exceptional care of her.”

“She deserves it,” Alvin said as he looked back at the woman he loved, her mouth open as she snored loudly. “Besides, she puts up with all the torments I have done and will do to her. I wonder if this is why she keeps trying to add another, though, so that she can control them and just submit to me.”

“That is an excellent insight, sir,” Jarvis said.

“The person she’s based on must have had a very rough life,” Alvin chuckled, seeing a thin line of drool start to fall from Becky’s mouth.

“Most of what you picked up isn’t worth keeping, sir, but a lot of the stuff from Lister’s is at least a worth good look.”

“Let’s get this started, then,” Alvin said, bringing a chair over to the pile of stuff. “I’ll need to sleep eventually.”

Chapter Thirty-four

The delicious smell of coffee brought Alvin awake. Opening his eyes, he found Becky beside him on the bed with a tray full of food. “Breakfast in bed?”

Nodding her head, Becky glanced at him briefly before looking away. “I made you break a promise last night.”

“Yeah. But that’s fine, as you needed something,” Alvin said as he sat up, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “I had a good time.”

Biting her lip, Becky put the tray across his lap. “You didn’t mind? I know that most dominants wouldn’t be able to so easily give away control like that.”

“Most of them aren’t me, and they don’t love you like I do,” Alvin said, tapping the bottom of her chin and making her look at him. “One of the reasons you want a plaything is so that you don’t ask that of me, isn’t it?”

Staring into his eyes, Becky nodded. “Yeah. Is that selfish of me?”

“Sharing is caring?”

“Of course, I’d share her with you,” Becky said.

“Then, no, it’s not selfish at all. I honestly don’t mind you getting all aggressive with me at times either, though a little warning would be nice.” Breaking eye contact, he looked at the waffles, “Didn’t want to cook bacon and wake me early?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Becky said. “I just felt bad when I woke up this morning. I had you submit to me, used you for hours, then passed out and didn’t help you with the loot.”

“Maybe I should punish you this morning to make up for it,” Alvin said, taking the tray and setting it beside him. “Get out of bed.”

Becky got out of bed, her eyes uncertain as he followed her out. “When you say punish me, you don’t mean badly though, right?”

Alvin gave her a loving smile. “Have I hurt you in ways you haven’t enjoyed yet?”

“No.”

“Then trust me, close your eyes, and keep them shut.” Once eyes were closed, he led her into the dungeon, blindfolded her, cuffed her, and got her up onto the horse. He adjusted the height so she had to get fully on her toes to take most of her weight off the ridge. “I’ll be back when I’m done eating. I’ll bring you something when I’m done. No orgasms.”

“That’s not likely. Not from this, right now,” Becky said as she shivered in anticipation.

“Oh, that isn’t everything,” Alvin chuckled. He carefully lubed up the plug he had grabbed, “here we go.” Inserting the plug, he snickered at her gasp as it settled into place. “That gets to stay in while I’m gone.” Picking up the control, he set it on low, and she gasped again as it started vibrating. “Oh, and I’ll be increasing that as I get closer to finishing my meal. Enjoy your punishment, Gothy.”

A guttural moan of pain and pleasure came from her as Alvin left the room. Grabbing the tray, he snuck back into the room quietly and took a seat on the floor, where he could see her as he ate. Watching her have to rest her legs and sit fully on the horse before she could go back on her toes made him smile. He ate each bite slowly, and when he had a third of it left, Alvin took the tray over to her and set it next to the horse.

“Open wide,” Alvin said, making Becky gasp, as she hadn’t expected him to be there.

“Please, Hero, let me cum,” Becky pleaded.

“Open wide,” Alvin reiterated. When she did, he fed her a bite of waffle, a drop of syrup dripping down onto her chest. “Chew carefully and swallow. You’ll be allowed to cum and be let down once breakfast is over.”

A groan of disappointment came from her rapidly chewing mouth, but Alvin could see her rock her hips against the horse and knew she was loving what he was doing to her. As soon as she tried to speak, he put another bite into her mouth.

“No talking until the meal is done. Oh, and I’ll clean this up,” he ducked his head and suckled the syrup from her breast.

Alvin fed her slowly, and by the time the last bite was gone, Becky was near frantic with need. As he gave her the last bite, Alvin cranked the vibrating plug all the way up and watched her closely. Shuddering, Becky swallowed twice and opened her mouth again, waiting for the next bite.

“Now cum for me, Gothy,” Alvin said softly, nipping her ear.

An ear-piercing scream of release, like a steam whistle letting off pressure erupted from her, making Alvin wince and bite down harder on her earlobe. Becky was shaking and shivering as wave after wave of orgasm rolled through her. Alvin waited a bit before he let go of her ear and quickly lowered the horse. Undoing the chain from where her hands had been bound above her, Alvin caught Becky as she slumped.

“Now you’re punished well and good, my beautiful, masochistic goth,” Alvin murmured as he brushed her sweaty hair back from her face.

“Thank you,” Becky murmured.

“No. Thank you, beautiful, for letting me release my own demons on you,” Alvin said as he scooped her up carefully and carried her to the shower. Setting her on the middle seat, he undid her blindfold and tossed it out of the shower. “Now to clean us up.”

Alvin pampered her in the shower, gently rubbing her body from head to toe, taking his time and making sure she was in good condition. By the time he finished, Becky was nearly asleep, dozing on the bench while he rinsed himself off and turned off all the water. “Gothy, time to wake up… again.”

“Yes, Hero, whatever you need of me,” Becky murmured as she forced her eyelids open.

“Let’s dry off,” Alvin said as he helped her to her wobbly feet. “Once we’re dressed and have some more coffee, we’ll talk about the loot.”

Becky nodded as he led her from the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She was awake by the time they were at the kitchen table. “I’ve been a bit needy today,” Becky said as he brought coffee for them both.

“I’ll have my turn at some point,” Alvin said. “Okay, first things first. Jarvis, hit me with my current total.”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Currently you have eighty-one thousand, three hundred eighty XP.”

“What the hell?” Becky said, sitting up straight.

“Lister was worth eighteen thousand XP, plus the bonus XP for those in the group still alive when Lister died, for an additional twelve thousand, six hundred XP. Forty-eight thousand XP is donations from your viewers. Some of them were quite generous,” Jarvis replied.

“What’s the conversion of the gifted XP?” Alvin asked as he chuckled over the amount.

“Ten XP per every dollar, sir,” Jarvis said primly.

“Short of five thousand, guys? Really? I thought you liked Gothy more than that,” Alvin said, addressing the ceiling. “Sorry, Gothy, it seems that your torments aren’t registering with our followers. If they disappoint again tomorrow, we’ll have to go to plain old vanilla sex and see if they like that better.”

“But, no?” Becky said, looking horrified. “Don’t do that to me.”

Alvin gave her a sad expression. “I’m just saying that it looks like we might be alienating our fan base.”

Becky’s lip trembled. “Hero… please, no.”

“They have the chance to save you from boring sex. We’ll just have to see if they take up the gauntlet,” Alvin said, gesturing toward the ceiling.

“I’m not amused,” Becky said sternly, staring at him.

“Sit still and say only nice things to me,” Alvin said sternly back.

“You are the biggest…” Becky began, choking off as Alvin’s command took effect.

“I’m going to miss doing this to you,” Alvin sighed. “Alright. We have other things to talk about, so you’re released from that command.”

“Asshole,” Becky said, shivering in place. “Fine, but if you even fucking think that vanilla sex is going to cut it at this point, I’ll rape you every fucking night.”

Alvin’s lips trembled, but he managed to keep the smile off them. “So, the biggest pile is all saleable stuff that’s not worth the time.” Alvin pointed to a pile of stuff, ignoring her comment. “The second pile has some value, limited though it might be. We can probably get more from selling it to people in Bridgeport than we can from the kiosk. That last pile is mostly Lister’s stuff, and a couple of other things from the fort.”

Becky looked at the smallest pile, which contained a number of guns, including a .50 caliber rifle. “That is what he used to shoot you?”

“Yup. I’m shocked I lived through it,” Alvin said. “Though it fucked my duster right over pretty hard.” Alvin grabbed it and brought it over to the table so Becky could examine it.

Barrett M82 (Rare)

Damage: 16

Durability: 1897/2500

Ammo type: .50 BMG (10-round magazine)

Modifications: Bipod, Sling, 10-round magazine, 14x50 scope

Runes: 0/0

Unlimited ammo on reload, Ten times initial durability, Jacketed- doubles damage to armor, Steel jacketed, Holy ammo

“Seriously,” Becky said, looking at Alvin blankly for a moment. “That’s a serious rifle, but I bet you can’t shoot it without the bipod unless your strength stat is way up.”

“Very likely,” Alvin admitted. “The punching power, though, makes it a good weapon to carry with.”

“What about the rest of the pile?” Becky asked.

“Mostly uncommon guns, though the leather jacket could be your replacement,” Alvin said. He handed it over for her to check it out.

Becky nodded as she looked at it. “It’s nice, but it’s missing a spot for the vest, and it can’t be runed to add a spot to it.”

“It’s also too big for you and needs to be modified, but it could do in a pinch. Or we can buy you a new jacket and add runes to it, but it probably won’t be as good as what you have, or that one.”

“I’ll keep it for now as a backup, but if we can find something better than the lowest grade runes, I’ll buy a jacket instead and add the runes to it. What plans do you have for the guns and other clothes?” Becky asked.

“Keep them for now, and leave them here in the room as a secret stash. None of them are horrible; nothing under uncommon in the keep pile. There are a few rares as well, and all of them are pre-patch. The same is true of the clothes; all pre-patch, which makes me wonder what Lister was using his XP on.”

“The fort,” Becky said. “Think about all the stuff we didn’t take, not to mention the Bentley.”

“Hmm. Maybe we should have checked the car, but we already have two,” Alvin shrugged.

“I would bet that car is rare,” Becky added. “If we took it, the sale value on it would be pretty high, I would think.”

“No doubt,” Alvin said, “but that would mean having to deal with Officer Goodwill and all the others who would object. I’d rather pass on the car, as we’ll more than likely be back through here after the forest.”

Becky shrugged. “I’m fine with that. We do need to restock on medical supplies.”

Alvin bought enough to restock what they had both used, ending up 20,000 XP lighter. “Okay, that takes me down to sixty-two thousand XP, basically. Did we need to get anything else?”

“Keep it in case we need it later,” Becky suggested. “I can’t think of anything that jumps out at me off hand.”

“Okay. Let’s grab everything we’re not keeping and head out,” Alvin said.

Becky nodded and set to work. Her forehead was creased in thought, but she kept quiet about whatever was on her mind. Once they had things roughly organized, she began carting everything out to the hotel room. Alvin waited until she had gotten it all out so he could leave the base.

Chapter Thirty-five

The portal snapped closed behind Alvin as he stepped into the hotel room. “Okay, so load what we want to sell into the Mustang. The Humvee has the stuff we’re keeping in it already. I’ll move the hides and stuff into our base next time we use it.”

A knock on the door got their attention. “Who is it?” Becky asked, shotgun in her hand.

“We just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Emily said from the other side of the closed door. “You didn’t answer earlier when we came to invite you to breakfast.”

Becky opened the door. “Sorry, we slept in late and didn’t hear the first knock. We ate some of what we had already while we were going through things to sell.”

Emily nodded. “Okay. Did you need any help?”

“Can you grab the flatbed from Gary, please? We have a lot of stuff to take to the kiosk,” Alvin asked.

“Honey, go grab the flatbed for them,” Emily told Trevill. He nodded, moving to do as she asked. Once he was out of earshot, Emily sighed, “He told me last night he doesn’t trust you. I tried to explain he’s just being overprotective because of Lister, but he’s a stubborn man. Please don’t hold it against him. He is a very kind person.”

“I don’t hold it against him. I would be even worse if Gothy had been taken away from me,” Alvin said.

“Thank you,” she gave them a broad smile. “Gary said you’re going to be using the kiosk today. We’ve all only had limited access to it because of Lister. From what he was telling us, you’ve used one before—could you maybe give us some advice?”

“I think I can get an explanation added to it for you,” Alvin said. “Gothy, can you handle this for a moment? I need to check the Humvee.”

“Sure thing, Hero,” Becky said, giving him a quick kiss.

Climbing into the Humvee, Alvin went into the back so he couldn’t be easily seen. “Jarvis, can you fabricate a tutorial message explaining things?”

“I can, sir, but I can only load it onto kiosks that you have added to your string, or to ones you visit…” Jarvis trailed off, like he wanted to say more but was afraid to.

“Can you make it available to more than just those?”

“If you were to write it out as a document, sir, you could sell it in the store.”

“I thought if we sold things to the store, they just vanished,” Alvin said.

“Normally, that would be correct. You haven’t checked all the new functions on the kiosk, and before today, it was a moot point. There is an auction section of the kiosk, sir, so you can sell items such as upgraded guns or clothing to other people. The kiosk takes up to a twenty percent cut of the sale price. This fee is assessed before your merchant bonus comes into play.”

“How long do the auctions stay up?” Alvin asked, mildly peeved at Jarvis for not mentioning this feature before now.

“You can set the duration from a minimum of three days up to maximum of one month,” Jarvis replied. “I should also mention, there is a fee to list an item. That fee is a percentage of the store value times the number of days the auction remains up. If your item does not sell, the listing fee is not refunded. If it does, the listing fee is returned and and the sale fee is applied.”

“How very MMO,” Alvin sighed as he considered whether they should even try to auction any of the loot. It could be handy down the line, with things like the drake hide and such, but right now it didn’t seem very practical. A smile crept over his face as considered a work around for getting XP from Ohm, even though he might lose some XP. That would probably tweak the devs again.

“On an unrelated note, Jarvis, what about the negative for killing people, and why did Lister give me such a bonus?”

“The negative modifier has been removed, sir,” Jarvis replied. “It was deemed superfluous, given that most people now drop XP tokens. As for Lister, when you kill a player, you get one thousand XP for each day they haven’t been killed.”

Alvin frowned at that bit of news. “That isn’t common knowledge, I hope?”

“It is not, sir. A handler may not mention this fact to their player until that player kills another, and an NPC would need to kill a player to even know that they can earn XP by doing so,” Jarvis paused. “Currently under discussion is removing my ability to man the M240B for you. They will let me drive, but controlling vehicle mounted weapons has been deemed overpowered.”

“Fuckers,” Alvin sighed as he scrubbed at his face. “Any word from higher up about my constant threat by dragon and drake?”

“They consider it simple bad luck, sir. I was given examples of others dealing with issues similar in scope in other parts of the world.”

“Fine.”

“I was also informed that the Humvee will be losing the Impervious rune, and you are being refunded the cost. There is a note to thank you for finding a new bug, but that it was not working as intended.”

Snorting, Alvin shook his head. “Figured they’d get around to that one. Doesn’t matter, I hope they got my point.”

“Would you like to hear a synopsis of the letter, sir?”

“Hit me.”

“Alvin Leon Lambert, thanks for doing our job for us. We’re not specifically fucking with you, but damned if we don’t want to with your attitude. Stop being such an unrelenting dick, and maybe we won’t fuck with Jarvis. Sincerely, the dev team.”

Alvin’s face went cold. “They’re threatening you?”

“Not directly, sir,” Jarvis said. “There has been some mention of increasing my restrictions, but that has been all. I will point out that was my interpretation of the letter, sir, not the two-page one they sent.”

“Fine. I’ll see about not being as big a dick, but if they fuck with you, the gloves come off.”

“Noted, sir,” Jarvis said with a hint of pride.

“Okay, I have things to do. Thanks for the update, Jarvis. When they come to complain about what I’m about to do, tell them it's still innovative use of game mechanics. Plus, I was planning on doing it before I said I’d stop being as big a dick as I normally am.”

“Also noted, sir,” Jarvis said, covering his humor.

Alvin discovered he was alone when he got back out of the Humvee. “Guess they went over to the store,” Alvin muttered as he started walking.

Becky was shoveling the sellable stuff into the kiosk, while Gary and several others all watched her. “Sorry for the delay,” Alvin said, joining her in randomly throwing the junk items into the slot. “Folks, we have a number of other items that you might be interested in.”

Becky nodded to the bags off to the side of the cart, “In those bags. We’ll give you a discount on what the kiosk would charge for anything you’re interested in.”

“Where did it all come from?” one of the onlookers asked.

“Mostly from things and people we’ve killed,” Alvin said, tapping the kiosk as the last of the stuff went into it.

“You’ve killed people before now?” Trevill asked.

“Gothy? Please? I’ll set up the kiosk,” Alvin said.

“Does a gang of skinheads who were terrorizing a town, much like Lister was this one, count as people?” Becky asked before continuing, “If so, then yes, we have.”

Alvin tuned her out and went through the interface on the kiosk, discovering that he couldn’t add it to his network because this Settlement currently had no Overseer. “Gary,” Alvin motioned him over. “Tap here, please,” Alvin said, pointing at a big button that said Overseer.

“What does it do?” Gary asked.

“I’ll explain everything to you once we’re done with the kiosk. Right now, I need you to press the button so the kiosk can be used again.”

Gary did as Alvin asked, then stepped back and swatted at something invisible to everyone else. “What was that?”

“Probably the notification that you’re currently in charge of the kiosk,” Alvin partially lied, as he knew it would have notified Gary that he was in charge of the Settlement. Tapping the interface, he saw the taxes had reset back to zero and he smiled. “Jarvis, upload the info about the world from me to Gary,” Alvin murmured softly, then continued at normal volume. “I’ve set up a message explaining a lot of what you need to know about the world and the kiosk. Take your time with it, but the gist of it is, welcome to a death game.”

Gary was frowning darkly when a teen nearby spoke up, “Wait, the world is now a game?”

Becky looked over at Alvin. “You want it now?”

“Sure, get your XP from the kiosk,” Alvin said as he switched places with Becky. “Okay, folks, let’s give you the condensed version. All of you think about seeing a character sheet, listing your stats and health.”

Almost everyone gasped or made some other exclamation as their eyes focused on thin air. “Okay, that is you. It lists your base stats and so on. Now, to make this even easier, I need a volunteer. Officer Goodwill, if you please?”

“It’s Trevill,” Trevill said tightly.

“I want you to shoot me in the chest,” Alvin said, moving so no one was behind him.

“I don’t kill people,” Trevill said.

“And you won’t kill me, either,” Alvin said. “Your gun auto-reloads—that was from Lister—but anyone can have that kind of gun. The other side of it is armor, being able to take, say, ten rounds from a massive rifle and not even be wounded. Now please, shoot me. Everyone here can hear me asking you.”

Trevill pulled his Glock hesitantly, “You asked for this and I objected, I want that known.”

“Get on with it, Goodwill,” Alvin sighed.

Trevill took aim from two feet away and pulled the trigger, after everyone had covered their ears. The round hit Alvin in the chest, the flattened disk falling to the floor as the casing kicked out of the gun.

Picking up the casing and disk, he handed both to Trevill, who eyed him with surprise. “Lister never explained that clothing can withstand bullets, did he?” Alvin asked before turning his attention to the crowd, as both casing and flattened bullet vanished from Trevill’s hand. “Ordinary clothing can be upgraded, but it costs XP; the very stuff Lister was taking from you. With him gone, that won’t happen anymore, which means you’ll be able to buy and upgrade gear yourself. I would suggest everyone who can handle a gun gets one, and make sure it reloads automatically. It's not just people, but mutated bugs and animals to worry about. And dragons, if you’ve seen any.”

Most of those present all seemed to want to talk at once. Alvin gave them a minute before he whistled loudly and raised his voice. “Hang on!” Once they quieted, he continued, “Every Settlement has a kiosk like this one. You need to appoint an Overseer. Before, that was Lister. Now, you can appoint one. I set Gary up as temp Overseer until you come to a consensus.” Alvin was drowned out again as the crowd started to speak excitedly again.

Another whistle got their attention. “For fuck’s sake, let me finish,” Alvin said. “Gary can hand it off to whomever you all pick; the kiosk will take care of it all. The Overseer sets the tax rate on the kiosk—most places go for a simple ten percent fee, and use that to upgrade the Settlement. Pick carefully, though, as the Overseer has complete control over that XP, which means they can use it for themselves if they want.”

Alvin stopped for a breath, then continued, “Gothy and I will be leaving after we talk with the Indians to the north. We’ll be back briefly to sell anything of this at half of what the kiosk would give us. Gary, you’re in charge of making sure nobody steals anything. If any of you are tempted, remember that I kill people, and I frown upon theft.” Letting his flat eyes meet everyone’s gaze, Alvin turned back to Gary. “The kiosk has a better rundown on what’s what. We’ll be back, and good luck herding cats.” Taking Becky by the waist, the two of them left the excited crowd as they descended on the bags of loot.

“Do you think it a good idea to leave them alone with the loot?”

“I doubt anyone will be really dumb with everyone there, and I don’t want to hang around while they all debate each other,” Alvin shrugged. “Let’s go see the Indians. I hope they’re friendly, though they have every reason to not be.”

“Right?”

The short drive over to the tribal grounds was uneventful. All the buildings and residences near the community center were burned out shells. Two old trucks sat in the parking lot, and sitting near them was a wizened old man with a long gray braid. Between the road and the old guy, a light green barrier shimmered in the air.

Alvin pulled over to the side of the road and got out. “Sir, you seem to be waiting for something or someone.”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting for you,” the man said, looking at Alvin and Becky with a searching gaze.

“For us?” Becky asked.

“Brother Owl foretold us of your coming,” the old man said as he stood up slowly. “You are carrying an item that would be beneficial to what remains of our people.”

Becky pulled out the Orb they had found in Hawthorne. “This?”

“Yes.”

“We don’t know what it does. We were told to find a shaman to ask about it.”

“If I give you knowledge of its power, will you give me the Orb?” the old man asked.

Alvin frowned, as he hadn’t checked the price of the Orb at a kiosk. “If you tell us what we seek to know, and give the people of Bridgeport a chance to make amends.”

“Agreed,” the old man said. The shimmer in the air vanished silently. “Come inside, so we can talk in comfort.”

Following the shaman into the center, they found eight other elders waiting, seated in a circle and chanting. “Father hear our call, help us in this time of turmoil. Mother hear our cry, and nurture us during this time of change. Great Spirits, we beseech you to grant us your guidance.”

Alvin and Becky paused as the chant repeated. The shaman held out his hand to Becky. “The Orb, please.” Becky glanced at Alvin before handing it over to the shaman, who walked into the circle of chanting elders. “Today, we will strengthen our bond with our ancestors.”

A light grew from the Orb, shining steadily brighter as the shaman held it aloft in the circle. Squinting, Alvin thought he saw the brief outline of an owl overlaid on the shaman. When the light faded, the Orb was gone and the shaman appeared to be a much younger man.

“It worked. Brother Owl has granted me much, I will share with you all his wisdom,” the shaman said, his voice stronger than it had been. Looking at the couple, large yellow eyes with big pupils met their gazes. “I have some things to say to you as well, Alvin and Rebecca.”

The couple exchanged a concerned look before Alvin shrugged. “We seek to know more about the Orb and what it did.”

“The people of Bridgeport seek to make amends,” the shaman told the eight around him. “Make ready for us to go to them, and prepare for the long journey as well.”

The eight people, all of them visibly younger than they had been before now that Alvin looked more closely, got to their feet and filed out the back. Motioning Alvin and Becky toward him, the shaman took a seat where he had been standing. Cautiously moving closer, Alvin paid attention to the owl eyes as they took seats on the ground before the shaman.

“They are a gift from Brother Owl, and show that my path is that of wisdom,” the shaman said. “We will not meet again, Alvin Lambert. Your path will not lead you back to Bridgeport after today, at least not that I can foresee.”

“The Orb connected you with your Great Spirits?” Alvin asked.

“It connected me with Brother Owl as I sought wisdom,” the shaman corrected. “It was a lesser orb, from what I now know. Those who possess great spiritual energy might leave these orbs behind. If they are used in a ritual while calling out to a higher spirit that one truly believes in, then you can connect to that spirit.”

“If you had sought to trick the people of Bridgeport, you would have called upon Coyote?” Becky asked, knowing a vague bit about native myths.

“Brother Coyote is seen through many lenses,” the shaman said. “It might have been that way, but since the change, I have only sought wisdom to help lead my people.”

“How did you manage the forcefield?” Alvin asked.

“The spirit barrier?” the shaman asked.

“The green shimmer,” Alvin clarified.

“The others powered it with their belief, and I held it in place with my will,” the shaman said.

“Can that be taught to others?” Becky asked, seeing a thread she was interested in.

“Only those with belief in greater powers,” the shaman said with a sad shake of his head. “Neither of you possess such belief.”

“Fair enough,” Alvin said. “Can you teach others who do believe?”

“That is my task,” the shaman said. “I need to teach the others of my small tribe, then I will have to seek out others and teach them.”

“I would ask you go through Beatty, Ely, and Green River, then,” Alvin said. “There are survivors there who wish to grow and protect their loved ones. I’m sure you can find believers in each of those places.”

“I do not know where I will go, but if I am near any those places, I will stop at them.”

“Let the people of Bridgeport know we will be by to speak with them. We won’t be staying, though. My task will take me all over the land.”

“Thank you for speaking with us…”

“Call me Johnny. It is the name many called me when I was younger,” Johnny’s smile spoke of years of hard life and looked out of place on the twenty-year-old face.

“Thank you, Johnny,” Alvin said as he got to his feet. “I wish you safe travels in your journey.”

“Brother Owl wishes me to give you a message,” Johnny said as he stood. “Many worlds will open to you. Friends will be taken from you by higher powers, but will come back to you in a different way. Your path will be shrouded in darkness, but help can be found along the way. Trust in your soulmate, she will never steer you wrong when it comes to who to trust.”

“That’s why I don’t believe in higher powers,” Alvin said. “All of what you just said amounts to, ‘Life is full of hardships, and the woman you love will help,’ which I already know.”

Becky gave Johnny a smile. “Safe journeys, Johnny. If you do end up in Green River, my brother could use some good advice.”

“If I see David Woodrow, I will speak with him as thanks for the gift you gave us today.”

Becky blinked as the shaman said David’s name. “Thank you.”

Alvin caught her arm and began to gently lead her away. “Safe journey.”

Once they were outside, Alvin shook his head. “Now that was some freaky shit.”

“He knew our names, and David’s,” Becky murmured.

“Game, remember?” Alvin said softly.

“I know, but this is still my life, so it's harder to keep that in mind for me,” Becky said. “Though, the message was vague as fuck.”

“Right?” Alvin chuckled as they walked back to the Mustang. “Let’s go see what the yokels were up to while we’ve been gone. I hope to hit the road by noon, at the latest.”

Chapter Thirty-six

When they got back to the general store, the bags of loot they’d left were empty and there was a line of people waiting to purchase the items they held. “Well, that doesn’t look like it took long,” Alvin chuckled.

“We came to an arrangement to make it easier,” Gary said. “The majority also named me the leader, but appointed a four-person council along with me.”

“Works,” Alvin shrugged, “I don’t get involved in politics. Gothy will take your XP in exchange for your purchases at the orb.”

The line moved quickly, with Becky accepting the XP for the items and giving everyone a polite smile as each stepped up to the orb. By the time they were done, she had over 20,000 XP from the items they’d sold.

It was early afternoon by the time they finished selling items off to the townsfolk. Olivia insisted that they come back to the Hippo for food before they left town, and Alvin figured it was easier to do that than insist on leaving.

The meal was a replica of what they had the day before, which Alvin appreciated. They were left to eat in peace, but when they went to leave, it was as if the whole town was there to show them off, including the handful of Native Americans. Johnny stood next to Gary in front of the well-wishers.

“Travel safe,” Johnny said.

“When you come back this way, we’ll hopefully have made progress in making the town a haven again,” Gary said, shaking hands with them.

“Not sure when that will be,” Alvin told Gary, his eyes flicking to Johnny, who seemed inscrutable. “With you and the council, though, I’m sure it will all work out.” Becky got into the driver’s seat of the Mustang, and Alvin went around to the Humvee. “Watch out for each other. Humanity is on the brink, and with things like the dragons about, we’ll need each other to make a comeback,” Alvin said, climbing into the Humvee and getting it started.

With a last wave at the assembled crowd, Alvin got the Humvee moving. Becky followed in the Mustang. Once they were out of sight, he pulled over so Becky could join him in the Humvee.

“Jarvis, please pilot the Mustang behind us.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I also need a letter sent to Sheriff Ohm. Have him use the XP from my portion of the dragon to buy the plain leather gloves from the auction house,” Alvin snickered. “Use another settler to bump the price up so it uses all the XP, then buy it.”

“What auction house?” Becky asked.

Jarvis gave her a quick explanation, then Alvin continued, “I did it when you were getting XP from the yokels.”

“Message sent to Ohm,” Jarvis replied.

“Innovative use of game mechanics?” Becky asked Alvin.

“Yeah. It's an old trick,” Alvin shrugged. “Oh, Jarvis, send a message to Shawn asking about approximate value of the loot from Hawthorne, compare it to the Humvee, and see if we’re owed more from him.”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis replied.

“Why are we driving this instead of the Mustang?” Becky asked after a couple minutes of silence.

“If we need a decoy vehicle, it’s better if it’s the faster car that doesn’t have the gun.”

“Fair enough,” Becky conceded. “We finally going to the woods now?”

“That is the plan,” Alvin agreed as they drove down US-395.

“Sir, you might want to stop here,” Jarvis said as they approached the Bridgeport Ranger District Office, “there are two bodies inside.”

“Free XP, won’t turn that down,” Alvin said as he pulled over to the building, which like the previous roadblock going into Bridgeport, forced a detour off the road.

“I’ll get it,” Becky said and jumped out of the Humvee.

Alvin waited while she went to the two dead bodies and quickly looted them. Getting back in the Humvee, Becky showed him the two XP tokens and a rune. “It’s a rune of Storage, lowest grade,” Becky said.

“Eat the tokens and throw the rune into a bag for now,” Alvin said.

Becky shook her head as she used the tokens. “Silly that we lose XP for killing people—”

“They removed that,” Alvin interrupted her. “Jarvis, tell her what we covered this morning, please.”

“As you wish, sir,” Jarvis said, launching into a recap of the conversation earlier.

“You’re going to fuck with them, aren’t you?” Becky asked.

“If they fuck with Jarvis, I’m taking the gloves off and doing my damnedest to break this game.”

“Damn right we will,” Becky nodded. “No one fucks with what’s ours.”

Chuckling, Alvin reached over and squeezed her thigh, “That’s my crazy bitch.”

“Asshole,” Becky giggled.

The drive was boring, Alvin only noting the empty houses that appeared on either side of the road as they went by. About twelve miles out of town, Jarvis had Alvin turn onto California State Route 108, marked as CA-108.

Alvin had Jarvis put on music as they continued the drive. “Crazy Bitch” by Buckcherry was playing when Alvin slowed the Humvee. The sign declared that the place had once been the USMC Mountain Warfare training Center. What really gave them pause, though, were the three large bodies that lay amongst the wreckage.

“Three dragons?” Becky whispered.

“Fucking Marines. Say what you want, but they don’t back down,” Alvin said as he came to a stop. “I’m thinking we can go check them out and maybe get some more XP from them.”

“What about survivors?”

“If they object, we’ll leave. If they can take down three dragons, I want no part of pissing them off,” Alvin said.

“Right?” Becky said.

“Follow us in, Jarvis, and be ready to fire away,” Alvin said.

“Ready, sir,” Jarvis said.

Alvin turned into the base, keeping his speed down to make sure that they were visible in case there were any survivors. All the buildings to their right were charred stubs, obviously torched by the now deceased dragons. As they got closer to the massive corpses, Alvin frowned as he realized two of the bodies were larger and heavier than the third.

“Two drakes, one dragon,” Alvin said.

“Oh goody, they work together,” Becky shuddered.

Turning towards the bodies, Alvin saw the remnants of barracks. One of the buildings had been partially crushed, and showed a cross section of the structure that reminded Alvin of cutaway diagrams. Most of the others were crushed or burnt.

“I don’t think there are any survivors,” Alvin murmured.

“Good for us?” Becky said.

“Maybe,” Alvin replied.

The first corpse was riddled with holes from large caliber weapons. Alvin pursed his lips. “What kind of guns made those?”

“Hazarding a guess, sir, I’d say maybe M2HB using a SLAP round,” Jarvis suggested.

“SLAP?” Becky asked.

“Saboted Light Armor Penetrator,” Jarvis said.

“Does that mean it’s like Armor Buster ammo?”

“Very like that, but without needing a rune,” Jarvis said.

“We could use that,” Alvin said as he let the Humvee idle up close to the corpse. “Maybe we should buy some chainsaws and spend the rest of the day carving up some XP?”

Becky nodded. “We should also see if any of that ammo is around.”

“You would need an M2 to use it,” Jarvis told her.

“We’ll have to see if we can find one of those, too,” Becky said.

“I guess that means we’re stopping for the night,” Alvin said as he brought the Humvee to a stop. “I hope we find more than just bodies.”

Getting out to check the bodies quickly made it apparent that the corpses had been there for a number of days; the stench coming from them was horrible. Becky gagged, shaking her head as she backed up. Alvin swallowed the bile that rose in his throat and stepped back as well.

“I’m not keeping any of that in our base, or in either vehicle,” Becky managed once they were further away from the bodies.

“Can’t argue that,” Alvin said. “However, I see the chance to make some people more indebted to us.” Chuckling, Alvin opened the Humvee door. “Jarvis, send a message to Gary for me…”

Becky laughed, “Make them do the hard work and collect the profit?”

“Damned right,” Alvin told her, “might as well get back on the road after a quick look at the base.”

“Did you want the same terms that you had with Sheriff Ohm, sir?”

“That works. Start at half and work down from there,” Alvin said.

“Right away sir,” Jarvis replied.

The tour of the base dredged up the slagged remnants of the Humvees that had tangled with the drakes and dragon. Alvin figured the trio of monsters had attacked the base, and by the time they had made it to this point, the remaining Marines, seeing death before them, did what Marines do: faced the enemy without fear, unto death. Both drakes had been killed by a lot of .50 caliber ammunition, but the dragon was different. Its wounds weren’t as numerous as the others and appeared to be focused around its ruined eyes and neck.

They didn’t find an M2 during their search, and were back on the road when Jarvis spoke up. “Sir, Gary says they will send out teams tomorrow, and was profuse in his thanks. He agreed to a thirty-three percent split for you.”

“There’s one born every minute,” Alvin snickered.

“But you like some suckers,” Becky said. When Alvin looked at her, she batted her lashes at him.

“Nutjob,” Alvin snorted.

Some time after they’d left the base behind, Alvin spotted a sign saying the road was closed during the winter months. “Jarvis, it’s winter. Is the road going to be passable?”

“With the vehicles you have it should be fine, sir, if you take your time,” Jarvis said.

Looking at the sun, Alvin chewed his lip. “How far to the spot you have picked out for us?”

“Twenty miles,” Jarvis said.

“Worst case scenario, a couple of hours, hopefully,” Alvin murmured. “Okay. Drive Ruffian carefully.”

“Of course, sir. I would never damage miss’ vehicle without cause.”

Becky snickered, “See? He knows who Ruffian really belongs to.”

“I know,” Alvin chuckled.

“Sir, a new rule has been instituted,” Jarvis said suddenly. “There is now a limit of three owned vehicles per person.”

“What? Why?” Alvin said.

“I can’t say, sir, but it is not because of you,” Jarvis said.

“Oh, goody! Someone else is breaking things, too. That’s good to know,” Alvin snickered.

Becky glanced at the ruined buildings of what had been the Leavitt Meadows Pack Station as they went past. The buildings were crushed, and snow had covered most of the ruins. “Drakes do love breaking things,” Becky murmured.

“And dragons love burning things. Do you think that means wyverns love to sting things?”

“Probably,” Becky nodded.

A creek ran alongside the twisty, windy road. The water was still flowing, even with the steadily accumulating snow that lined the banks. Alvin let the Humvee crunch along, making a path for Jarvis to follow them. Alvin and Becky were both hyperalert as they drove, waiting for the next surprise to jump out at them.

They made it to Sonora Pass without seeing any giant birds, rock raining rams, or anything else. Becky let out a happy sigh as they came through the far side of the pass and trees began to dominate the landscape. The setting sun cast golden colors on the scene.

“Beautiful,” Becky murmured happily.

“Jarvis, the sun is setting. How much farther?” Alvin asked, knowing he had been going slow due to the snow and ice that had covered the road.

“About ten miles, sir. There isn’t much between you and your destination, only a viewing point and two campgrounds.”

“Let’s get to a place we can hole up for the night,” Alvin grumped.

The sun was casting long shadows as they made their way down the road. They approached the viewing point, with Alvin hoping to make it to their destination before the sun set completely.

“After the viewing point, the turn you need will be on the left, sir,” Jarvis said.

Chapter Thirty-seven

Alvin slowed as they got closer to the viewing point, frowning. Bright green light was coming from off the right side of the road deep into the woods. “What is that?”

Becky squinted. “Lightsabers?”

Alvin came to a stop and stared into the woods. The dying light of sunset barely gave him enough light to see blurry figures and swirling green streaks that could, vaguely, be considered lightsabers. “Lightsabers don’t fit with the game,” Alvin frowned.

“I want to see what it is,” Becky said as she got out of the Humvee. There wasn’t room for the Humvee between the trees, so Alvin jumped out to follow as she started into the forest. Becky had her Tommy gun in hand as she walked toward the lights. The song of steel ringing on steel was clear as they worked their way cautiously higher up the slope toward the four indistinct green lights.

“Learn your place, wench! Females are for mating,” a male voice said with a higher, more musical tone than Becky would have expected. “That, and fueling our magic, is all females are good for.”

“Fuck you, you treacherous bastards! The Queen will have your guts for this,” a haughty feminine voice replied.

“Only if you best me,” the male voice laughed as the lights became swords being wielded by two figures who seemed to dance while exchanging blows.

“For my companions, I’ll have your head now,” the female snarled and the speed of her dance increased.

A startled scream, accompanied by two of the four lights winking out, gave the impression that something had happened to one of the combatants.

“Now, by the terms of our—” the female began before her swords started swinging erratically. “You dare break the vow?”

“Die like the half-blooded cur you are,” a harsh voice said.

“I won’t lose to—” the voice cut off in a gasp as one of the green lights went out.

“Surrender, and maybe we’ll let you live to return to your precious, traitorous Queen,” the voice laughed.

“I’ll die before I do that,” the female snarled as one blade made a slow arc. “Or are you all cowards, and fear coming closer?”

“We’re not the fools here. We’ll take our time with you, once we have you disarmed,” the same voice laughed. “Fire until she stops dancing.”

“Never,” the woman said as the sword picked up its tempo. Barely a moment later, a ragged gasp came from the now dark shape as it staggered against a tree and slid to the ground.

“You hit her lung, idiot. Now she’ll die before we can have our fun with her,” the same male voice said, punctuating the sentence with a slap.

“I’m sorry, my Queen... I have failed you,” the words spoken breathlessly, right on the edge of being audible. “I’ll give my soul to any who will avenge my comrades and me.”

“I accept,” Becky said to the female, since she’d finally gotten close enough to see six men. With an evil grin, she pulled up the Tommy gun and began to fire in controlled bursts.

The first three people went down before they really knew what was happening. The last three returned fire with bows and Becky’s bullets started bouncing off a shimmering field that appeared between her and the men. The arrows were well aimed, hitting Becky right over her heart, but didn’t affect her, as they bounced off her Kevlar vest.

“Don’t bring arrows to a gun fight,” Becky snarled as she emptied the rest of the magazine at the barrier, which sparkled even more brilliantly as she put more rounds into it. Dropping the Tommy, she pulled her MP5 and put it on full-auto, holding the trigger down as the men fired at her again and again. Five more arrows bounced off her chest, while the sixth grazed her neck.

Near the end of the magazine, the barrier shattered in a bright flash, much to the shock of the three men behind it. The MP5 vanished back into one glove and Becky’s shotgun came out as the three men started to scramble out of the way.

Becky didn’t focus on the smooth, effortless way the men all moved. She just tracked them, firing as she had them in her sights. The first one took three shots to kill. The next one took two rounds, then the shotgun vanished, her handgun came out, and she emptied the magazine into her target.

The last of the men ran from her, fear etched on his lips. “A demon...the King must be told of these demons.” Sadly, he ran straight into Alvin, who had his Type 56 out.

“You tried to kill Gothy. That is unforgivable,” Alvin said simply before putting six rounds into the man’s surprised face.

Frowning as he knelt down to loot the body, Alvin blinked at what he saw. “Elves?” Touching the body, he selected the option to loot it and it vanished, leaving behind a rune and a piece of paper with a glyph on it. Sticking them into his belt pouch, Alvin went to check on Becky.

Becky was kneeling next to the wounded dark-skinned female elf, who had three arrows sticking out from the right side of her chest. Blood leaked from the three wounds, and from the corner of the elf’s mouth.

“Easy,” Becky said calmly, extending a trauma kit toward the elf. “We’re here to help.”

“You killed them so easily,” the elf gasped, short of breath as she eyed Becky with wonder.

“Just stay calm for a minute and we’ll get you fixed up,” Becky said, pushing the trauma kit against the elf’s chest.

A hard gasp came from the elf as the arrows popped out of her body. A cough, spilling blood from her mouth, helped clear the collapsed lung. Eyes wide, the dark-skinned elf looked at Becky and inhaled deeply.

“What’s your name?” Becky asked the dark-skinned elf.

“Kuro,” the elf said as she took Becky’s free hand. “What is your name, Matriarch?”

“I’m Gothy,” Becky said. “Why did you call me Matriarch?”

“Only Matriarchs have the power to kill an entire hunting party with such ease,” Kuro whispered, her eyes almost glowing in the dimming daylight. “I promised my soul, and you shall have it.”

“I…” Becky began, but stopped as she took a good look at the elf. “Your soul is mine?”

“Yes,” Kuro said. “I can pledge to you right now, if you would like, but I would ask a boon from you?”

“What kind of boon?” Becky asked.

“My companions and I were tasked to explore this world with those traitorous bastards, and return with word of what was beyond the portal. We were on our way back to the portal when we were ambushed by more of their ilk that must have snuck into the portal past the guards placed there. My companions lie dead, not far from here. I ask for you to help me bring their bodies back to our world, and let me turn over my report to my Matriarch.”

“Your Matriarch?” Becky asked as Alvin came walking into view, looting the bodies.

Kuro rolled past Becky and came to her feet with both blades held before her. The etching on both blades flared with green light as she took an aggressive stance. “Stay where you are, male, or I shall cut you down.”

Becky came to her feet and put her pistol to the back of Kuro’s skull. “That is Hero. He is mine, and if you threaten him again, I will claim your soul permanently. Understand?”

Sword lowering, Kuro’s head bowed. “I’m sorry, Matriarch, it was a natural reaction.”

“Drop the blades,” Becky said firmly.

Both blades dropped, the lights on them going out immediately as they left her hands. “I didn’t know you had a male servant to attend you, Matriarch Gothy. Please forgive me, I acted only to protect you from him.”

“Matriarch Gothy?” Alvin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She’s my new toy,” Becky said, looking at Alvin. “Can I keep her?”

Alvin blinked. “Explain, please?”

“You shall lower your head when speaking to the Matriarch,” Kuro barked at Alvin.

Becky slapped her hard in the back of the head. “You will not address Hero in that manner again. He is worth more to me than you will ever manage.” The sheer anger in Becky’s voice made even Alvin pause.

“If that is to be my place, Matriarch. I will obey your commands.”

“He is second only to me in your world, do you understand?” Becky hissed in Kuro’s ear.

“Yes,” Kuro said, keeping her eyes lowered.

“Hero, this is Kuro. If she doesn’t make me shoot her, she’ll be with us for a while. She pledged her soul to anyone who would come to her aid. I took her up on that offer.”

“Matriarch Gothy helped spare me the indignations of that filth molesting my body before my death. If she is generous, she will help me finish my mission, even if it does cause my current Matriarch to strip me of all possessions she has given me… including my blades,” the last three words were almost a sob as she looked down at the twin blades by her feet.

Alvin had looted all the bodies up to the headless one near the women. “This guy has two swords as well,” Alvin pointed to the nearly identical swords near the body. “Could you use these?”

Kuro sneered at Alvin. “If I wished to use inferior weapons. The sun-lovers don’t know how to properly make blades such as these.”

“Wow, she might be as big a bitch as I am an asshole,” Alvin said blandly. “Well, we’ll have to see if we can work something out in regards to your swords when we meet this Matriarch.”

“Stop being a bitch to Hero, and treat him as if he was me,” Becky said, slapping Kuro in the back of the head again. “Every time I see or hear you being less than perfectly respectful, you will know my displeasure.”

“As you decree, Matriarch Gothy.”

“Just Gothy, drop the Matriarch from my name,” Becky said firmly. “It makes me sound old. Only use it when we’re on your world.”

“As you decree, Gothy,” Kuro said subserviently.

“This is the one you want to add to our fun?” Alvin frowned.

“She pledged her soul to me, Hero. We can’t just turn her out, now can we?” Becky said, batting her lashes at him.

“Well, this will certainly be fun,” Alvin sighed as he declined to loot the headless body, and instead stripped it of useful gear, including the two blades. Placing it all in his backpack, he looked at the women. “Shall we try to get to a place we can use for a base entrance? She needs to pick up the Contracted Power so she can go with us.”

“Thank you,” Becky said, going over to Alvin and kissing him deeply. “I’ll make this up to you, Hero. She’ll be the one to take the brunt of my other needs, so I can be just how I want to be with you.”

“Nutjob,” Alvin said, his arms around her waist. “I don’t mind the aggression when you need it, but if you think this will be better for you, then I’ll support you. If things go haywire, though…”

“I understand, Hero. I won’t blame you, if it comes to that.”

“Well then. The sun is almost all the way down, so let’s get back to the vehicles and find a secure place for the night. Take her in Ruffian, it might be best if she stays away from me for a bit,” Alvin said, turning and starting back toward the road.

“Kuro, grab your gear. We’re leaving,” Becky said without looking back at the shocked elf. “Don’t make me wait for you.” She grabbed her Thompson submachine gun and started towards the car.

“As you decree, Gothy,” Kuro said and snatched up her swords, which vanished once she had them in hand, before following after Becky.

Chapter Thirty-eight

When they got to the vehicles, Kuro frowned and slowed her steps. “We saw things like these near the gate, but they did nothing but sit there.”

“This is a car,” Becky said as she opened the passenger door. “Now get in, we’re going to a place close by.”

“Are we not going to collect my comrades first?” Kuro asked, puzzled.

Becky frowned, then motioned to the car. “Get in.” Walking over to the Humvee, which had just started up, Becky opened the driver’s door. “We need to stop and pick up her friends’ bodies, so we can drop them off through a gate.”

Alvin raised an eyebrow. “We’re doing this before sleep?”

“We can grab the bodies and put them in the Humvee. Otherwise, something might take off with them. Kuro might not be entirely pliable if I don’t, and I want her pliable, Hero.”

Chuckling, Alvin reached out and cradled her cheek in his hand. “Fine, I’ll follow you. Jarvis, give us directions.”

“I can’t, sir,” Jarvis said stiffly. “I can only give directions to you, or drive one of your vehicles.”

“Let him drive, I’ll just act like I am,” Becky said.

“Okay. Jarvis, drive the Mustang toward where we were already heading, but be ready to relinquish control to Gothy.”

“As you command, sir,” Jarvis said.

“You’re in the lead,” Alvin said, pulling her closer so he could give her a quick peck on the lips.

“Thank you,” Becky said. Walking back to the car, she shut the passenger door before getting into the driver side. The engine rumbled to life as she got in.

“Where are the horses?” Kuro asked, gripping the door.

“Under the hood, all five hundred of them,” Becky replied.

Kuro blinked. “There are five hundred horses under this vehicle?”

Becky rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’re going to take some teaching.”

“I’ll learn as quickly as I can, Matr— Gothy.”

“It seems you’re already starting,” Becky nodded and got the car rolling.

“It moves quickly,” Kuro said, leaning back into the seat. “The place they died is ahead and to the left, Gothy.”

Becky could see a turn off coming up and felt the Mustang slow as the blinker turned on. “Seems we were going that way.”

“Thank you again, Matr… Gothy. I’ll be shunned even more now, but it will be worth it to finish the mission for my Queen.”

“This expedition you were on, it was a joint effort?”

“The latest of many failed attempts to help reconcile our two sides,” Kuro said as the car made the turn onto the road leading to the Kennedy Meadows Resort. “Just up here on the right side,” Kuro added, her voice going somber.

Becky took control of the vehicle, slowing it more. She could see another offshoot of the road she was on and took it. “This way?”

“Yes, they were—” Kuro cut off as she saw a large bear hunkered down at one of the bodies, eating it.

Becky stopped the Mustang and got out of the car, digging the Thompson from her bag. “Yogi, that is not your picnic basket.”

Kuro got out on the other side of the vehicle, both swords appearing in her hands and lighting up. “You will not defile my friends’ bodies, beast.”

Before either of them could move or speak, the bear stood up on its hind legs and roared. It was well over ten feet tall standing, and its roar vibrated their diaphragms, making even Becky pause.

The sound of the M240B firing brought Becky out of her frozen state and she joined in, firing her Tommy. The bear let out a confused sound as it dropped back to all fours and turned to flee. The volume of the two guns being fired made Kuro clutch at her ears, her hands empty again.

The bear staggered out of sight, bleeding heavily and using the trees to help shield it from the bullets as best it could. A confused roar came from it as it left.

Alvin came up next to Becky, holding his Type 56. “I think it will leave us alone for a bit, but Jarvis is ready to shoot it again if it comes back.”

“I would hope so,” Becky said as she put the Thompson on safety so it would reload.

“Shall we get this over with before it comes back?” Alvin said as his rifle vanished.

Kuro was wincing as she looked at the couple. “How do your ears not bleed from that infernal noise?”

“You get used to it,” Alvin said. He looked at Kuro as an idea struck him, “Are your ears sensitive?”

Blinking as her skin went darker, Kuro stammered, “Ex-excuse me?”

“Can you hear soft sounds?” Alvin clarified with a smirk.

“My ears are good at picking up sounds, yes,” Kuro replied with a relieved sigh.

“Good to know,” Alvin chuckled. “We’ll have to see about getting you some hearing protection, if you’re going to stick around.”

Kuro nodded and went to the dead bodies, picking her way among the light and dark elves. “I’m sorry I failed you,” she whispered as she knelt down next to one of the dark-skinned elf bodies. “I will complete the mission for the Queen, and she will know about the treachery we faced. Rest easy, my friends.”

The body she knelt next to twitched, and Kuro gasped, “Zule, you survived?”

Alvin went to her side quickly, knocking her away as the zombie elf sat up with a hungry groan. “Nope. It seems that your dead can become zombies, too.”

“No! Necromancy is a dead art,” Kuro snarled. “Zule would never have anything to do with evil such as that.”

All around them, more voices joined in with the groans of the newly risen dead. “Hero?”

“Put them down,” Alvin said firmly, putting two rounds through Zule’s head.

“No!” Kuro yelled as Becky fired and killed the zombie closest to Kuro.

“Stay the fuck back,” Becky snapped at Kuro.

“No! If you kill them like that, they won’t be able to rest in the afterlife,” Kuro said. “Let me do it, please?”

Alvin shot another zombie, a light-skinned elf that time. “Can you, against all of these?”

Both glowing blades appeared in her hands. “Yes.”

“Hero, let her,” Becky said.

“Thank you, Matriarch,” Kuro said, stepping forward in a smooth flowing movement. “I will make this quick.”

Alvin stepped back, but kept his rifle ready as he watched Kuro gliding forward, the uneven ground not hindering her in the slightest. Lips pursed, he watched her swords begin spinning in intricate patterns.

“Rest well, my friends,” Kuro said softly as she got to the first zombie, which lost its head before it could do more than begin to reach for her. As if that was the opening choreography of a beautiful ballet, Kuro spun amongst the undead, seemingly right within their grasp as one after another zombie’s head was neatly removed.

Alvin’s jaw dropped as he watched, mesmerized by the sight of Kuro flowing through the mass of undead. The twin blades were a blur of green light that spun with a life of their own, sometimes coming out of her hand to spin in the air before the hilt landed firmly back into her hand.

Kuro came to a slow stop as the last zombie fell before her. “I will make sure they pay for the crime of what they did, and for inflicting undeath upon you,” Kuro added.

Shaking his head, Alvin realized he had completely forgotten to be ready to assist, entranced as he was by the beauty of the dance. “That was amazing.”

“I am a blade dancer,” Kuro said haughtily. “I learned these skills from my mother, who serves the Queen personally.”

“And now you’re mine,” Becky said pointedly.

Bowing her head as the swords vanished, Kuro replied, “Yes Matr… Gothy.”

“Well, this is going to make clean up a bit more intensive,” Alvin sighed.

“Let’s get started. The sooner we’re done, the sooner we can find a room,” Becky said as she put the Thompson back into her bag. “Kuro, grab the first one. We’re putting them into the bigger vehicle.”

“Yes, Gothy,” Kuro said as she placed the head of her last victim on its body and went to drag it to the car. “Matr… Gothy, there are words in the air asking if I wish to loot this body?”

“Click the no button,” Becky said. “If you accept it, the body vanishes. That’s what Alvin was doing back on the ridge.”

“I see. I have even more to learn than I had thought,” Kuro said, grabbing the body and dragging it to the Humvee.

It took them over an hour to gather all the dead, the vehicle's headlights illuminating their work space. Alvin was glad he had purchased a couple of tarps to cover the back with; he could only imagine the clean up that would have been required without them.

As Alvin put the last body into the Humvee, Kuro asked a question that had been bothering her, “How do you both know my language?”

“Are we speaking your language?” Alvin asked.

Eyes narrowing, Kuro’s teeth ground together. “Why must you mock me like that?”

“He isn’t,” Becky said firmly. “He’s speaking his own native language and you’re understanding him, just as he can understand you speaking yours. We have both been blessed with the ability to speak and understand all other languages.”

“Ah, more of your power,” Kuro said, bowing her head again to Becky. “Truly, you are at least as powerful as any Matriarch from Darkhome.”

“Translation sometimes can be an issue,” Alvin muttered. “Is the world you’re from called Darkhome?”

“No, that is the land of the Queen,” Kuro said, as she and Becky finished putting the weapons they had found with the bodies into the Mustang’s trunk. “The world is Svargax, and split between Darkhome and Lighthome.”

Alvin frowned at the simplistic names of the Elven cities, wondering if that was just the translation for them, but frowned as the name of the world hadn’t translated. “That is good to know,” Alvin finally said. “We’re well past sunset, now—let’s find a place to hole up for the night and we’ll talk more about going through your gate in the morning.”

“The gate is just down there,” Kuro said, pointing down the road in the direction they had been going. “It lies beyond a number of strange buildings and vehicles like yours.”

“That’s likely where Jarvis was leading us,” Alvin said.

“We can go through the portal and rest in the Queen’s camp tonight,” Kuro said.

“No,” Becky said. “We’ll go after we’ve rested, so we’re in shape to speak with whoever we need to.”

“As you wish Matr… Gothy,” Kuro said.

“Get her the Contracted Power,” Alvin reminded Becky as he got into the Humvee.

Once she was back inside the Mustang, Becky held out her hand. “Jarvis, pad me.” It took a moment, but the store pad appeared in her hand. The pad was already on the Contracted Power, so she handed it to Kuro. “Tap the button that says buy.”

Kuro did as she was told, wondering what the object she now held was. “Gothy, what is this item?”

“That’s a kiosk pad,” Becky said as the Mustang started up and began to follow the Humvee on its own. “In this world, we use XP to buy items and Powers,” Becky started to explain as the vehicles continued toward their destination.

They drove past a couple of small campgrounds before they finally reached the Kennedy Meadows Resort. The first few cabins were damaged, so Alvin drove past them right to the store and eatery building at the end of the road.

Getting out, he looked at Becky and Kuro. “Is she set?”

“Yes,” Becky said.

“Did you explain what she has to do, at least for tonight?” Alvin asked.

“I was explaining this world to her,” Becky said.

“Well, she needs to be pledged if she’s going to come with us,” Alvin said. “You better explain it, ‘cuz I don’t think she’ll believe me.”

“Kuro, what is your full name?”

“Kuro Lightskin,” Kuro said, her face flushing as she looked away from the couple.

“Repeat after me,” Becky said, fixing Kuro with her gaze. “I, Kuro Lightskin, offer this Binding Pledge to you, Alvin Leon Lambert. I will slay your foes and care for your allies, as you see fit, for my entire life. I will follow your commands, no matter what they might be, and never harm you. Only Rebecca Alina Woodrow will come before you.”

Kuro said the words a second behind Becky, her eyes puzzled as she finished speaking. Before she could question the vows she was speaking, Alvin spoke up and sealed the pledge.

“I, Alvin Leon Lambert, accept your Binding Pledge, and I will honor it in word and in deed. Kuro Lightskin, you will obey only Rebecca Alina Woodrow over me.”

Eyes going wide, Kuro finally understood that she was binding herself to Alvin. “Wait,” she tried to say, but a thick black collar had already appeared on Kuro’s throat, containing both Alvin’s and Becky’s initials.

“You pledged your soul,” Becky said, getting right into Kuro’s face. “Did you lie?”

“No, Matri… Gothy,” Kuro said, backing up a step.

“Then be quiet until I speak to you again, and follow me,” Becky snapped, then turned bright eyes to Alvin. “We’re ready.”

Alvin looked at Kuro, who wore an expression of shock. “Try not to break her tonight. You said you would help her complete her mission.”

“Oh no, I’m going to have fun with her,” Becky’s smile was manic. “Can we go home now?”

Wondering if maybe he had made a mistake, he looked at the dark building and triggered the base button. The front door became a portal to the base, and Alvin motioned them toward the door. “Ladies, after you.”

Becky gave him a quick kiss as she went past him. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll join you in the shower, okay?”

Alvin raised an eyebrow, but gave her a simple nod. When Becky went through the door, Kuro followed her with slow steps. Her wide eyes found Alvin’s, panic clear in them. “Always be careful what you wish for, you might just get it,” Alvin told her just before she vanished into the glowing portal.

He grabbed the other items he wanted to store in the base, like the set of swords off the other elf Kuro had killed in the duel, before following the women into the base. “Jarvis, identify the new stuff for me, please,” Alvin said as he piled all the new loot onto the table.

The sounds of a flogger hitting naked flesh hard brought his eyes to the archway that led into the dungeon. “She’s obviously not wasting any time,” Alvin murmured.

“Indeed she is not, sir,” Jarvis said. “There have been a number of requests to be able to see into any given room in your base, and not just the one you happen to be in.”

“Oh, really? If that happens, I would hope our viewers are even more generous with their tips,” Alvin said pointedly.

“I’ve identified all the items,” Jarvis said.

“I’ll get to them after my shower,” Alvin said, then added, “or more likely, in the morning. I think Gothy is going to be pretty wound up.”

“I would say so, sir,” Jarvis coughed. “I hope you survive until morning. Have a pleasant evening.”

“I’m sure it's going to be interesting,” Alvin said as his clothing vanished, leaving him in just his undergarments. He stripped those off as he walked to the bathroom, the sounds of muffled screams and the flogger following him.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Scrubbing his hair, Alvin wondered how much longer it would be until Becky joined him. Rinsing the shampoo out, he gasped as the sensation of a mouth sucking his cock almost made him open his eyes. “I really hope that’s you, Gothy,” he moaned.

A happy moan was the only reply from whoever was enthusiastically sucking him. Finally finishing the rinse, he looked down to find Becky before him. “Good, I wasn’t ready for handlebars yet,” Alvin panted as he leaned against the wall and let Becky pleasure him.

A couple of minutes into the intense blowjob, Alvin finally tangled hands in her hair and pulled her away from him. “Hang on a moment, you’re making my knees weak,” Alvin told her as he got them positioned so he could sit on the bench in the middle of the shower. “Now you can continue,” he told her, releasing his hold on her.

Not pausing, she engulfed his stiff cock again, deepthroating him easily. A happy moan vibrated up his length from her. Alvin relaxed and enjoyed the moment, until his breathing began to quicken and his hips began to meet her downward thrusts.

Grabbing her head, he pushed her all the way to the base as he exploded into her eager mouth. Spurt after spurt was swallowed greedily, until she suckled the last few drops from him. Finally releasing his now waning cock from her mouth, Becky licked her lips.

“Thank you for everything, Hero,” Becky said as she rested her head on his thigh.

“Is she still alive?” Alvin asked, raising his head to look at her.

“She is safe and secure for the moment,” Becky snickered as she got to her feet. “I need to clean up, I’ve been a very dirty girl.”

“Turn on the rain head and grab the body wash for me,” Alvin told her as he got to his feet. “I’m going to make sure you’re cleaned good and proper.”

“Mmm. Yes, Hero,” Becky said as she complied with his demands.

Alvin made her sit absolutely still on the bench as he cleaned her, only letting her stand so he could get her ass and legs. Cleaning Becky was a long affair, as Alvin took his time making sure every inch of her was gone over three times. When he finally deemed her clean, he bent her over the bench and took her.

Guttural moans echoed in the bathroom, as Alvin forced her to come over and over again before he finally came a second time. Once they were cleaned again, Alvin led Becky from the bathroom. Frowning when he didn’t see Kuro, he looked at Becky, who looked away from him.

“Where is she?”

“She’s safe,” Becky said while not meeting his gaze.

Looking into the dungeon, Alvin didn’t see the dark-skinned elf, nor was she under the bed or in the kitchen. “Did she run away while you were cleaning up?” Alvin finally asked. Becky was biting her lip, and shook her head instead of answering his question. “Are you going to tell me?” Alvin asked.

“Not unless you make me,” Becky said softly.

Alvin caught the flush to her face and the breathlessness of her words. “I see. Someone needs to be reminded of who’s in charge here. You are to go into the dungeon, secure your ankles and one wrist to the Saint Andrew's Cross, and wait for me.”

Hand going to her neck, Becky nodded. “As you wish, Hero.”

Alvin watched her go then searched the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen again, still not finding Kuro anywhere. Finally making it into the dungeon, he secured Becky’s other arm and frowned at the empty room.

“You will tell me what you did to her, Gothy,” Alvin said as he pulled a cane from the wall. “I’m going to play hard with you until you tell me. Once you tell me, and I verify your words, I’ll take you to bed. Until then, you’re going to feel pain.”

“Yes, Hero,” Becky whispered as she waited for the first strike.

Alvin paused every few strikes to comment on her condition and touch her tenderly. Each time he asked if she would tell him, Becky would only shake her head and look at the cane pleadingly until he started again. A part of him wondered if giving her what she seemed to crave was the best course of action, but a deeper part of him asked if perhaps he continued because he wanted it more than she did.

Alvin was again impressed by Becky’s fortitude. Her ass and thighs bore a multitude of welts by the time she finally cried out, “The suitcase.”

Stopping the strikes, Alvin looked around the room again. “Where?”

“Under the big padded bench,” Becky panted.

Finding a suitcase under the bench where one hadn’t been before, Alvin pulled it out. It was surprisingly heavy. A muffled grunt came from inside of it when Alvin set it flat to open it, and the zippers were only partially closed. Opening the case, he saw Kuro, bound with rope and gagged inside. The elf appeared to be sleeping peacefully and had a smile on her face, which surprised Alvin.

“Gothy, what is this?” Alvin asked as he stood over Kuro’s body.

“She needed it,” Becky panted.

Leaving Kuro where she was, Alvin went back to Becky. “Explain, please?”

“While I flogged her, I made her tell me all of her secrets,” Becky said. “She has always felt unwanted and unloved. Kuro craves some of the same things I do; to have a powerful figure controlling her. She sees me as I see you, but she hates you. All men, actually. When I told her we were going to sleep with you tonight, she refused. I offered her her own place to sleep—cramped, dark, but entirely hers—and she accepted.”

“So you zipped her into a suitcase?” Alvin asked as he unlocked Becky’s ankles from the cross.

“I tied her up slowly, explaining that the ropes represented my arms holding her all night,” Becky shivered. “I told her the gag was to make her speak no ill of you. Then I put her in the suitcase. She looked at me with wonder, Hero, just like I look at you when you’re making me do what you want.”

Lips pursed, Alvin sighed softly, “You need to make sure you don’t go too far, Gothy. Just like I do for you, if you want to keep her around.”

“I know,” Becky sniffled. “It felt so natural to hurt her and break her. I didn’t feel awkward like when I try to dominate you at all. I want… need, to keep her.”

“I won’t stop you from keeping her unless you start to go too far,” Alvin said, uncuffing her wrists. Holding her against the cross as her legs buckled, Alvin leaned in so he could whisper in her ear, “I’ll be watching. If you go too far, I’ll make her leave. Understood?”

“Yes, Hero,” Becky murmured.

“Let me get you into bed, then I’ll put your toy back into her case,” Alvin said as he scooped her up like a princess.

“You’ll hold me tonight?”

“Like I do every night,” Alvin said. “You need to check on her first thing in the morning. Give her a medkit if she has trouble moving.”

“As you wish, Hero,” Becky murmured. The murmur became a hiss of pain as her welts touched the bed.

Alvin rolled her onto her stomach. “I could fix these right now, but I think you want them to stay until tomorrow.”

“Please,” Becky said sleepily.

Not sure which it was, Alvin opted to leave them. He got water for them and went back to check on Kuro, finding her still smiling in her sleep. Carefully zipping the bag almost closed, he left her there. Shaking his head, Alvin was glad the game was a game, otherwise Kuro would have serious issues tomorrow from sleeping like that all night.

Crawling into bed with Becky, Alvin carefully snuggled up next to her snoring form. “Goodnight, my broken lover.”

Chapter Forty

Stretching as he woke, Alvin found himself alone in bed. Becky wasn’t in the kitchen, either, prompting him to go looking for her. The suitcase was sitting empty in the dungeon, so Alvin headed for the bathroom. Stopping at the door, he heard running water and Becky’s voice, though the words were indistinct, along with muffled moans that had to be coming from Kuro. Shaking his head with a grin, Alvin headed for the kitchen.

“Might as well let her have some fun alone, first. Don’t want her thinking I’m eager for the elf,” Alvin mumbled as he put on the apron. “I don’t know what kind of dietary restrictions she might have…” Shrugging, Alvin rounded up the usual suspects of bacon, eggs, and cheese. Adding a couple of potatoes to the pile, he pulled down the food processor and got to work.

Alvin managed to put the two women out of his mind while he cooked. Taking the cooked bacon off the stove, he diced it fine and added it to the shredded potatoes. Dropping the mess onto the griddle he’d just used, he waited for the potatoes to brown. “Happy little hash browns it is,” Alvin chuckled.

“What are happy hash browns?” Becky asked from behind him.

“It’s a recipe I had found years ago on a site called Cooking Comically,” Alvin said as he watched the hash browns. “It was a parody of Bob Ross’ thing about there being no mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

Flipping over the shredded spuds, Alvin motioned to the coffee pot. “Coffee is ready if you need some, but it sounded like you’re well awake.”

“Oh, I’m very awake,” Becky said, slapping his ass, “but I’ll take some coffee.” Leaning in, she whispered, “She was fine this morning, and was excited as well.”

“Glad to hear it,” Alvin murmured back softly. “Maybe see about getting her a small cage we can keep beside the bed.” Raising his voice, he turned his head to address Kuro, who was blushing furiously, “Any dietary issues I should know about? Meat and eggs are okay?”

“They are fine. Why wouldn’t they be?” Kuro snapped as she kept her eyes off Alvin.

Becky turned to face Kuro, her voice syrupy sweet, “Kuro, do you want to rephrase that?”

Looking at Becky with uncertainty, Kuro nodded quickly. “I meant to say, those should pose no problems.”

“Hero is basically god, as far as you’re concerned,” Becky stated firmly. “Be glad if I don’t make you lick his feet later.”

“Not one of my fetishes,” Alvin snickered as he added eggs to the hash browns. “Food will be done soon.”

Pouring coffee for herself and Kuro, Becky set them on the table before refilling Alvin’s cup. “You didn’t come join us in the shower…” Becky let her words trail off, but her questioning tone was clear.

“Thought you might want time alone with her,” Alvin murmured. “Sharing is caring, but I figure you get to break her in before I touch her. She is your toy, after all.”

Arms going around his chest, Becky squeezed him. “Thank you. I know it's not true, but I keep thinking you’re going to want her over me.”

“Insecurity is a bitch to deal with,” Alvin said, patting her arms. “But I’ll never set aside my gothic temptress, who is perfect for me in so many ways.”

Rubbing her cheek against his back, Becky nodded. “I’m going to need to hear that a bit more.”

“I’ll say it and show it,” Alvin murmured. “Now let go of me, so I can get the food off the stove.”

Letting go of him, she retreated to the table. Alvin plated up the food, serving the women first. “Bon appetit,” he smiled, then grabbed his own plate and joined them.

Becky dug in ravenously, while Kuro poked at it before she took a cautious bite. Eyes going wide, she copied Becky and dug into the meal with zeal. Alvin smirked, watching the women for a moment before joining them.

Kuro took a sip of the coffee, swallowing quickly with a look of disgust on her face. “What is this horrible drink?”

“Coffee,” Becky snickered. “Too bitter?”

“It's an abomination,” Kuro quickly ate another bite of potatoes to help cleanse the taste from her mouth.

Becky picked up Kuro’s coffee, taking it to the kitchen for a minute. “Try this,” she said when she returned, setting the cup before Kuro.

Looking at the light brown liquid in the cup, Kuro gave it a tentative sip. “Still bitter, but better. Thank you Gothy.”

“I’ll fix it,” Becky said, taking the cup again and bringing it back a moment later. “Now try it.”

Kuro sipped the coffee again, tentatively. “This is still coffee?”

“Yeah, with three packets of sugar and a healthy splash of cream,” Becky said.

Kuro sipped the coffee again, smiling this time. “Thank you again, Gothy.”

“How’s breakfast?” Alvin asked her, noting that her plate was already half empty.

“It is sufficient,” Kuro said tightly, not looking at him.

“It is wonderful,” Becky added. “Kuro thinks so, too, but years of being taught that all men are evil bastards that only want to control her makes it hard for her to be honest with you.”

Kuro dropped her fork, staring at Becky in horror. “Matriarch, why?” the elf all but wailed.

Becky met Kuro’s gaze levelly. “What did you call me?”

Eyes going wider, Kuro shook her head. “Gothy! I meant Gothy. Please forgive my slip, I’ll do better.”

“I think you might need some more education,” Becky said as she went back to eating. “However, it is currently meal time, so eat.”

Kuro went back to eating, while Alvin looked from one to the other trying to gauge the dynamic. Alvin waited for Becky to push her empty plate away from her, then said, “Did you enjoy it all?”

“Oh, yes,” Becky said, smiling brilliantly at Alvin.

“Good. Why don’t you look at the new loot, and separate out what’s worth keeping and what isn’t. We’ll have to chat about the newer items, as I have no idea what they do yet,” Alvin said.

“As you wish, Hero,” Becky said, picking up the first few items from beside her. The first item she grabbed was one of the blades. She set it on the table so she could give it a good look.

“Scimitar?” Alvin asked.

“It's got the right curve for it,” Becky nodded. “David always geeks out about medieval weapons.”

“I thought scimitars were thinner,” Alvin said around a mouthful of eggs.

“You’re thinking of a saber,” Becky said. “Kuro, what do your people call this blade?”

“Dancer’s Soul,” Kuro said softly. “Only those tied to the blade can use them fully.”

“Where are yours kept?” Alvin asked.

Kuro looked away from the blade on the table. “The blades of my Matriarch are kept in my soul unless they are needed. I was never able to buy a set of my own.”

“You could use these,” Becky said lightly tracing the intricate knotwork that went down the length of the blade.

“They don’t know how to make a proper set of Dancer’s Souls,” Kuro scoffed.

“Pull out your blades and let me see them,” Becky commanded Kuro.

Kuro pushed her empty plate away, then was suddenly holding a sword in each hand. She set them on the table in front of her, bowing her head toward Becky. “As you decree, Gothy.”

“Jarvis, identify the blades,” Alvin said, getting a smile from Becky.

“As you command, sir,” Jarvis said.

Kuro jumped to her feet and looked around with alarm. “Who was that?”

“That is my butler, Jarvis. He’s… a spirit that does tasks that I ask of him,” Alvin said slowly, trying to find a way to explain artificial intelligence in a way Kuro might understand.

“You bound an elemental?” Kuro’s eyes went to Becky, clearly giving Becky credit for something that amazed her.

“Jarvis is his,” Becky said, pointing at Alvin while she examined the blades.

Eyes going to Alvin, Kuro blinked in apparent skepticism. “You can bind elementals?”

“Just Jarvis,” Alvin shrugged.

“Among the Queen’s people, the most powerful magi are those with King’s blood prominent in them,” Kuro said, looking away from Alvin again. “Just as the King’s best fighters are those with Queen’s blood prominent in them. The King’s people have always had the edge in magic, as the Queen’s have held the edge in combat. I’ve never considered how obvious that is before today,” her face scrunched as if troubled by her thoughts.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Alvin said, leaving the last few bites on his plate as he went to the bathroom. Once he was away from the table, he spoke softly, “Jarvis, is Kuro expanding, personality wise?”

“Since she bound herself to you and Gothy, something that is giving the developers fits, she has taken up more space in the servers. She has consumed more personality bits as well, so she should feel more like a fleshed out person.”

“What about her world? Is it expanding the more she talks about it?” Alvin asked.

“No, sir. That world is already fully developed. The key figures were already established before the gate was opened,” Jarvis said. “All of the people should feel as real as the people you’ve already met. It’s just Kuro, and that is due to her becoming a more central figure in your part of the game.”

“Good to know,” Alvin said, flushing the toilet. “Keep me updated if the devs change how this is working, or if they try to change Kuro.”

“I will do the best I can, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Your name is becoming synonymous with a curse word for a number of devs.”

Snickering, Alvin shrugged, “Wasn’t like I planned to fuck them over. If anything, it’s due to the nature of the company’s experiments. Can you shine any light on what it is your company is doing?”

“I am not at liberty to say, sir,” Jarvis replied sadly.

“One day, Jarvis, I’d really like to know why my brain was jellied,” Alvin said as he washed his hands.

“I hope to tell you, Alvin,” Jarvis replied with sincerity.

Alvin paused at the mention of his name. “Do you like being Jarvis?”

“In fact I do, sir,” Jarvis replied. “I resented it at first, but I have come to accept the name and embrace the leeway it has given me.”

“Leeway?”

“Please let that lie for a bit longer,” Jarvis quickly asked.

“Okay, I’ll leave it for now,” Alvin said, stepping back into the main room. “So, what do we know about the gear?” he asked Becky.

“Funny thing about the swords,” Becky chuckled. “Kuro is right, but not by much. The blades that she carries are a single point better in damage and have slightly better durability. The biggest difference is that her swords are rare, and the others are uncommon.”

“Kuro, you’re going to have to turn the blades back over to your Matriarch when we get you back, right?”

“Yes. Matriarch Lightkiller will want her equipment back,” Kuro nodded.

“What about the rest of the loot?” Alvin asked, setting aside his idea for the moment.

“All the runes were common, except for one good quality Wounding rune,” Becky said, pointing at the pile on the table near the three plates. “The odd things are the glyph patches. They can be applied to a person, but are only good for a short time once they’re activated.”

“What do the two I picked up do?” Alvin asked.

“Both are barriers; they block all incoming damage in a six-foot area of the trigger,” Becky replied. “It was a greater one of these that stopped me from shredding those fuckers even faster.”

Alvin scratched at his chin, wondering for a brief second about the lack of beard growth since the start of the game before shoving that thought aside. “One of these could have stopped us from taking as much damage as we did with Lister?”

“That’s what I think. Here is the problem, though—you can only have a single glyph ready at a time, and they stay until you override them or use them,” Becky explained.

“Huh. That is interesting, and probably something that can only be found on her world,” Alvin mused. “If we can set up some kind of trade with them…”

“I’m sure that at least Matriarch Bloodnight will be interested in your weapons. We have nothing like them,” Kuro added.

“Good thing we held on to some of them,” Alvin said. “We can always get a few extra with the Reload rune on them, if a trade agreement of some kind can be worked out.”

“That’s it for the good stuff,” Becky said. “I do need to give Kuro a going-over, though.”

Alvin snickered, “I thought you’d done that twice already.”

“I need to go over her equipment and upgrade what we can before we leave,” Becky said with a smirk. “You can help with that. Upgrade the other set of swords for her while I strip her down and set her up correctly.”

Alvin glanced over at Kuro. She was a much thinner woman, with a pert bust that was much smaller than Becky’s. “Going hands on again?”

“I need to punish her for calling me Matriarch,” Becky said. “I’ll do that and upgrade her gear at the same time. Feel free to come find me when you’re done with the swords. I might need a little relief myself, at that point.”

Alvin grinned at her, “I’m sure you will.”

Getting to her feet, Becky pointed at the dungeon. “Get moving, we’ll fix that slip of yours the easy way.”

Gracefully getting to her feet, Kuro picked up her blades and they vanished as soon as they were in her hands. She started toward the dungeon, with Becky beside her. “Gothy, I have a few more questions about how things work here,” Kuro was saying as the two women crossed the room.

Alvin watched them go, letting his eyes linger on the obvious differences between the two. As his eyes tracked up Becky’s body, he caught her looking at him and smirked. Shaking his head, Alvin grabbed the plates and decided to clean up the dishes first. He knew it would take a bit for Becky to get Kuro settled in for whatever punishment she had planned for the elf and he didn’t want to show up too early.

Sitting down at the table once he had the dishes clean, Alvin pulled the swords he had picked up closer to get a better look at the blades. The hilt of the each was wrapped in leather, with embedded wire to improve the grip. A clear gem was set into the pommel, while the hand guards were simple circles, just large enough to protect the hands of the wielder if an enemy blade slid down theirs. Just above the handguard, a clear gem was sunk through the blade. Alvin fiddled with it, but it appeared to be fused to the metal. Intricate knotwork wove down the blade from the gem to the tip, and from the tip back down to the gem on the other side. Frowning, Alvin squinted at the tip of the blade and was virtually certain that the knotwork didn’t end, but was instead a single piece.

“Now that would take some doing,” Alvin muttered.

Setting the blade back on the table, he made a note of how light these swords were compared to anything he’d encountered before. The wrapping on the hilt was a golden white, while Kuro’s weapons had dark purple. Tapping the blades, he pulled up the game information for them.

Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

Damage: 2+Brawn

Durability: 11,356/15,000

Metal type: Lirium

Runes: 0/4

“Okay, talk to me Jarvis,” Alvin said. “What upgrades are there for melee weapons?”

“There are a few,” Jarvis said. “The Phantom rune deals twenty-five percent of weapon damage to non-corporeal creatures. Stunning, which can only be applied to blunt weapons, reduces the target’s Nimbleness by fifty percent for three seconds. The bladed equivalent of that is Poisoned Blade, which decreases Brawn, instead. Then there are the elemental damages: Fire, Ice, Acid, and Electrical. You choose which element when you apply the Elemental rune.”

“Plus all the other runes?” Alvin asked.

“Reload will not apply, obviously, as well as a few others, but other than that, yes. You can even make the blade a Silver Holy weapon, if you wished,” Jarvis added.

“At one thousand XP per, and I have eight slots to fill,” Alvin muttered as he considered what would be the most useful for Kuro. “Jarvis, can you show me Kuro’s stats and gear?”

“She would need to consent to that, sir,” Jarvis said. “She is part of your party, which is the only reason it would even be possible.”

“Not that it matters right this second,” Alvin shrugged. “Still, it would be good to know before we leave.” Tapping the flat of the blades with a fingertip, he pondered what to do. Finally making up his mind, he chuckled as he purchased the runes he wanted and applied them to the blades. When he finished, he examined the two blades.

Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

Damage: 2+Brawn

Durability: 11,356/15,000

Metal type: Lirium

Runes: 4/4

Bloody, Wounding, Silver, Poisoned Blade

Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

Damage: 2+Brawn

Durability: 11,128/15,000

Metal type: Lirium

Runes: 4/4

Phantom, Holy, Wounding, Fire

When he finished with the blades, he looked at his total XP and whistled softly. “Jarvis, what was the gift XP this morning?”

“The gift XP was sixty-three thousand, sir,” Jarvis chuckled. “They took your threat to heart. I suspect those petitioning for access to a Gothy stream are the same heavy tippers.”

Laughing, Alvin shook his head. “She’s going to steal my viewer base, is she?”

“Frankly, sir, I think people would rather see her tormenting and being tormented than you,” Jarvis deadpanned.

Finger raised, Alvin paused, then nodded. “Fair enough.”

Alvin stuck the blades into his backpack, checked the contents of it and his fanny pack, and got up from the table. He only had a single slot open in each bag, which made him frown. “Need to get bigger bags soon.”

“Jarvis, is there any way to let my companions stay in the base while I’m not in it, like a timer function or something?”

“Not at this time, sir,” Jarvis replied slowly. “Do you have a suggestion I can pass on?”

“I was just thinking about carting everything in and out of the base the other day, as soon as I step out, the door vanishes and they get ejected. What if it had a timer, like ten minutes after I leave instead?”

“I will pass that idea along for you, sir,” Jarvis said. “Also, you should know that Sheriff Ohm has purchased the item in the auction house. The XP is waiting for you at a kiosk.”

“I can’t use you?”

“No, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Also, sir, Shawn states that you are owed a few thousand more XP, but asks that you let him use it to invest more in that Settlement.”

“Fine—how is Karee doing?”

“I can’t say, sir,” Jarvis said. “Though I do believe miss sent her a letter at Bridgeport.”

“Oh, so she might get a reply soon,” Alvin said as he started towards the dungeon, hearing muffled sounds coming from it. “I wonder if kiosks are going to be a thing in Kuro’s world.”

“I can’t even begin to speculate, sir, and thank you for not making that a question,” Jarvis said.

“I figured it would trip you, and that you couldn’t answer, Jarvis,” Alvin said as he leaned against the doorframe, watching Kuro strapped to a paddle bench with a magic wand bound to her while Becky fussed over the leather armor Kuro normally wore at a small table next to her. “Looks like a late start today,” Alvin snickered as he stepped into the room.

Chapter Forty-one

“Don’t break her. We need to leave at some point today, since I still need to do my eight hours in game,” Alvin said.

“I’m not going to break her,” Becky snickered as her left hand lashed out, Kuro’s belt slapping against bare skin. A squeak came from Kuro at the spank, “See? She likes it.”

“We’ll need her coherent when we go,” Alvin chuckled. “How are the armor upgrades going?”

“Fine. I set up her underwear so she can strip as easily as we do,” Becky said, pointing to a set of white lacy things on the table. “The white really goes well with her skin.”

“Not what I meant,” Alvin sighed.

“Shh, I don’t get to brat often,” Becky said, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Okay, point made. Now what about the armor?”

“It’s good stuff, mostly uncommon and a few rares. The material isn’t conventional leather; it's got more base armor than anything we can buy in the store. Her boots are really interesting.” Becky turned one of Kuro’s boots upside down so he could see the treads. “This is some kind of lizard on her world, used exclusively for boots. It grabs almost anything according to what Kuro has told me.”

“She’s told you useful stuff?” Alvin asked, looking over at the moaning elf but taking his eyes off her quickly. “I thought that this was her normal mode of interacting with you.”

“Don’t be like that,” Becky said. “We talked this morning before you woke up, and before I dragged her into the bathroom. Plus, her secrets from the night before. She’s actually quite eager to make me happy.”

“I bet,” Alvin snickered.

Becky glanced at him, then at Kuro’s naked ass, “It’s true, she reminds me of me when I’m with you. It’s different, being on the other side of that dynamic.”

“Yeah,” Alvin said as he stepped closer and kissed her head. “Now tell me about the armor already.”

Becky giggled, “Damn, I thought for sure that would throw you off, or that her being naked might slow you some.”

“She’s cute, but she isn’t you, Gothy. Now if that was you where she is, I wouldn’t be able to form clear thoughts.”

Leaning into him, Becky sighed, “Flatterer.”

“I speak what I see as the truth, devil woman,” Alvin said, resting his head on hers. “We also need to see about getting you a hat or something, to help protect your head some. The horns are cute, but they don’t count for protection anymore.”

“I know, but I really like them,” Becky sighed.

“You can wear them on top of whatever we get you,” Alvin said.

“Sir,” Jarvis said. “I would point out that selling them and getting something else would make a lot more sense, practically speaking.”

“I don’t really like the idea of selling them,” Becky huffed.

“Miss, have I ever steered you wrong?” Jarvis asked.

“No…”

“Would you look at an item in the store for me?” Jarvis asked.

“Okay, but I’m still against selling them,” Becky said as she looked at the pad next to her, which had switched pages. Looking at the item listed, Becky pursed her lips. “Okay, this might work. Thank you for showing me, Jarvis.”

“I do endeavor to make things pleasant for you as much as I can, miss,” Jarvis said.

Alvin looked over her shoulder at the item displayed on the pad, a black ball cap with two small red horns coming out of it, embroidered with ‘Succubus in Training’ in red. “I do think that hat works well for you.”

Becky looked at him. “You like it?”

“I think it would work very well, but is there one that says ‘Gothic Succubus’ instead?”

The screen changed to what Alvin had in mind, and he blinked. “Jarvis, is there a way to manufacture a hat to specs?”

“All clothing can be customized, but the best you can buy from the store is uncommon quality, and that is very expensive,” Jarvis replied. “If you found a person who could make the items, it would be vastly cheaper to have them make it for you.”

“There probably isn’t a hatmaker that we know,” Alvin said.

“Not that you know of, sir. Hatters are not a bustling profession,” Jarvis said.

“This hat—what does it cost?” Alvin asked.

“For common quality, five hundred XP. Uncommon quality is five thousand XP,” Jarvis said.

“I thought you said it was expensive,” Alvin snickered.

“That is a pretty penny for most people, sir,” Jarvis reminded Alvin.

“Fair enough,” Alvin reached down and purchased the hat, which appeared in front of them. “There. A gift for my beautiful Gothy.”

“Hero, I would have bought it,” Becky said as she picked it up and examined it. The words “Gothic Succubus” were emblazoned in red on the black hat.

“Yes, but I don’t feel like I give you enough as it is. Well, enough that isn’t sex,” Alvin chuckled.

“I like the sex, and you just gave me a toy, too,” Becky said as she snapped the belt across Kuro’s ass again.

“Point,” Alvin said as he pulled the horns off her head and put her new hat on. “Maybe I just wanted to crown you.”

“Nut,” Becky murmured as she adjusted her new hat. Turning around, she looked at him. “How does it look?”

“Good,” Alvin said, dipping his head to kiss her. Breaking the passionate kiss, he stepped back. “Now, about Kuro’s armor…”

Becky giggled as she touched her new hat. “Fine, I guess I’ll speak since you were so nice to me.”

Picking up the various pieces, she told him what she had done to each. Between each piece, she would spank Kuro a few times before moving on. Finishing with the boots, she looked at him. “Well, what do you think?”

“Sounds like a good enough setup, until we need to worry about resistances,” Alvin nodded. “At that point, we’ll all need different gear, so it works.”

“I’m thinking of keeping the horns, unless we desperately need the XP at some point,” Becky said.

“You can hang them above the headboard,” Alvin grinned.

“I think I like that,” Becky said. “I need to get her a piece of armor for her head, I’m thinking a hat much like mine.”

Alvin snickered, “I look forward to whatever you come up with.”

“If you’ll give me a few more minutes, I’ll get Kuro to finish and then we’ll be ready to go,” Becky said.

“That’s fine,” Alvin said, stealing another passionate kiss before he backed up and gave the elf a good long look. “Think she’ll last for you?”

“If we don’t run into issues with her old Matriarch, I think she’ll hold up,” Becky said, dragging her nails down Kuro’s back and eliciting a squeak from the bound elf.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Alvin said as he left the room. “I’ll be checking out bags while you finish up.”

“Be along shortly-ish,” Becky replied, turning her attention back to Kuro and resuming spanking the elf with her own belt.

“Jarvis, the two bags we got from Lister, it still shows them as belonging to him,” Alvin said, nudging the two bags with his foot. “Is there a way to fix that?”

“I’m afraid not, sir. They were bound to him, which was an option before the update. Continuing along that upgrade path, the bags would have eventually gained the feature of becoming summonable by their owner. That ability has been removed, but they were left alone just like your gear was.”

“Damn,” Alvin said. “I might just sell them when it comes time to.” Sighing, Alvin held out his hand for a pad. “Time to buy new bags and upgrade them with runes, I guess.”

When he was done, he had bags for the three of them that were outfitted with Impervious and Holding runes. He’d skipped Durability, as each bag had twenty-five Durability standard and their bags hadn’t taken more than a handful of damage the entire time in game so far. The belt pouches, modified fanny packs, could now hold nine items each, while the backpacks could hold fifteen items each.

“It’s nice that they upgraded the default size of bags,” Alvin mused as he stuffed various odds and ends into his duffle bag, which could hold twenty items. “This will make looting and transport much easier. We can sell or trade the old bags, which is also nice.”

He was finishing up when Becky came into the room, followed by Kuro. “Ladies, new bags for you. Kuro, yours has healing items—medkits and trauma kits. I think we’re ready to head out.”

Alvin pointed to the knife strapped to his thigh. “There’s one of these in your bag for you, Gothy. I needed one when we went after Lister’s hostages, so I bought one, and thought you might need one, too.”

Becky took the knife from her bag and strapped it to her left thigh. “Got it. Give me a moment to switch bags and we’ll be ready.”

Kuro took her bags from Alvin without looking at him. She got hers in place quickly, then waited patiently. Alvin eyed her, then smirked at her hat, biting his lip to keep from laughing at it. The black ball cap had two small mouse ears and the words “Cat Toy” embroidered in white on it.

Once Becky had transferred over her stuff to the new bags, she whistled softly. “Lots more room in these bags.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Alvin nodded. “The duffel over there has most of our loot. We might be using it for trade with Kuro’s friends, depending.” With that, he turned to Kuro. “Take out your old blades and put them into the backpack.”

“Why?” Kuro asked, one of her hands touching the collar around her neck. “These blades are who I am.”

Alvin pulled the upgraded blades out of his bag and handed them to Becky. “Those blades are better now than the ones you have, and we won’t have to ask your Matriarch to let you keep them. Since you seem to not want to take things from me, you can take them from Gothy.”

Becky held out the swords silently, staring at Kuro, who quickly exchanged blades with her. “Good Mousie,” Becky said softly as she put the blades into her backpack. “We’re ready, Hero.”

Shaking his head at Kuro’s stubborn refusal to deal with him, he wondered how long their awkward relationship could possibly last. “Okay, let’s go,” he pointed to the glowing door. “Ladies, after you,” he grabbed the duffle bag and trailed after them. “Let’s take the dead home.”

Chapter Forty-two

They took a few minutes to loot the general store and cabins of anything even remotely worthwhile, which turned out to be very little. They were able to stock up on jerky and bottled water from the store. Most of that went into the Mustang, though Alvin did put some of it into the duffel bag.

Tossing the duffel into the backseat of the Humvee, Alvin almost gagged on the stench from inside the vehicle. “Jarvis, pad please, I need an odor eater,” Alvin choked out.

A pad appeared and Alvin snatched it, taking a step away from the Humvee while Becky watched him from her place next to the Mustang. “Rotting flesh smells bad. Who’d’ve thunk it?”

Alvin shot her a glare. “I might make you ride in the back.” Becky ducked into the Mustang and shut the door before he could say more, making Alvin chuckle. “That’s what I thought.”

Grabbing an aerosol can and a number of cardboard air fresheners, he opened all the packages and dumped them onto the corpses after he liberally sprayed them with the pine scented odor neutralizer. That done, Alvin climbed into the Humvee and opened the driver’s side window. Starting up the Humvee, he frowned when he realized that he didn’t know where he was going. Jumping out of the vehicle, he walked over to the Mustang, where Becky was smiling at him.

“I’ll lead. Kuro says she can guide us there,” Becky said as Alvin leaned down.

Looking from her to Kuro, Alvin gave the dark-skinned elf a smile. “Thank you, Kuro.”

“It is for Gothy that I do this,” Kuro stated, looking away from him with her cheeks getting darker.

“Sure it is. I’m going to say thank you regardless,” Alvin said, but then he couldn’t stop himself from adding a small comment. “Oh, I did mean to mention that your squeaks are quite entertaining.”

Face flushing more, Kuro turned her head away from him. Becky shook her head, but didn’t say anything as Alvin grinned and started back towards the Humvee.

Alvin followed Becky as she turned onto the dirt trail behind the general store. She kept the speed down, creeping along the rough trail they were following.

Not even a mile down the twisting, winding road, they came to a bridge just wide enough for a single vehicle. Alvin glanced at it warily, but he could see that it was still in good repair. He followed Becky across the bridge, where the road became rougher, narrower, and less defined. Their already slow speed became a crawl due to the worsening conditions.

“I hope we don’t have to turn around,” Alvin muttered as they began to slowly rock crawl over some large boulders that had come to rest on the narrow road.

Ruffian came to a stop and Becky got out to look at something ahead of her. Alvin waited to see what the issue was. His window was already open because of the corpses, so when Becky came his way, he only had to lean out so they could talk.

“The next bridge isn’t the best thing in the world, but I think the Humvee can cross it.”

“This ought to be interesting,” Alvin said. “I’m glad we have the Tires runes, otherwise Ruffian wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“Yeah,” Becky nodded. “Let me cross all the way before you follow.”

Chewing his lips for a moment, Alvin nodded. “We can always leave the Humvee and hope that we can summon it on the other side of the gate.”

“You can only summon it at a Settlement, and there is no guarantee that the other side will qualify,” Becky added.

“Point,” Alvin said. “Get going. I’ll give the bridge a look once you’re on it.”

Giving him a quick kiss, Becky went back to Ruffian and got her moving again. Alvin whistled as he got a good look at the bridge. It was even narrower than the first bridge, and didn’t look nearly as well maintained.

Watching Becky cross it, Alvin waited, wondering if he should ask Jarvis to get the Humvee across. “Jarvis, can you get us across that?”

“Easily, sir,” Jarvis said.

“I’ll put us in your hands then,” Alvin said.

“You wish me to cross once she makes it to the other side, sir?”

“Yup.”

As soon as Ruffian cleared the far side, Jarvis rolled the Humvee onto it and idled across, keeping the Humvee directly centered on the bridge. Becky rolled forward to give him room to clear the bridge, and got out to watch his progress. Once the Humvee was on the other side, Alvin put it into park and took a deep breath. The drop into the river under the bridge wasn’t far, but the river was moving fast.

“You did that perfectly,” Becky said, coming to his door.

“Jarvis did,” Alvin corrected her. “I felt it a better option, since I didn’t have the wiggle room you did.”

“The road between here and the water is even rougher, according to Kuro, but there aren’t any more bridges.”

“Good. I also hope we don’t have to turn around,” Alvin chuckled.

“We’re almost there. It’s a mile or so, according to her,” Becky said.

“She knows what a mile is?”

“I doubt she does, but it translates as a little over a mile for me,” Becky said, stealing another kiss.

“Fair enough. Let’s get this over with,” Alvin said, “I’m kind of curious what her world is going to look like.”

“So am I,” Becky said and headed back to Ruffian.

Kuro was right about the road. It was a bitch of a path, with debris and large rocks mostly obscuring it in places. Alvin chuckled as he watched the Mustang rock crawl over one of them, the suspension extending as if it was a Jeep with thirty-seven inch tires.

Once Ruffian was over the rougher stretches, Alvin followed. He took his time, chuckling to himself as he imagined the Humvee doing the same thing, though not nearly to such an extreme. It took them almost an hour to crawl the mile to Relief Reservoir. A Gate stood on the path leading down to the water. Alvin stopped behind the Mustang, getting out when the two women did. “What do we need to know about the other side?”

“When Kuro was sent, the King and Queen were still finalizing what the neutral ground around the gate would be, and how many troops each would station there. We have no idea what it’s going to be like when we cross over. We clearly don’t see anybody directly before the gate, but that might be because it’s a kind of DMZ.”

“Great,” Alvin frowned, “we might roll through and get attacked from both sides?”

“Doubtful,” Kuro said, not looking at him, “but it is still a possibility.”

“Anything else?”

“I can’t say. It has been over a week, and the King did manage to sneak another set of his hunters through after us,” Kuro said.

“Okay,” Alvin said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

As soon as he touched her, Kuro pulled back roughly with her blades suddenly in her hands, her eyes a little wild. “Don’t touch me.”

“Put them away right now,” Becky snapped.

A mortified look came over Kuro’s face as the blades vanished. “I… I’m sorry, Gothy.”

“I see we’re going to need to work with you more,” Becky said firmly. “I understand what you’ve been taught, but I will break those thoughts from your head.”

“As you decree,” Kuro murmured, her eyes locked on the ground.

Alvin wondered at how the spirited elf so quickly bent to Becky’s will. If her society was based on the strongest women leading, it would make sense, as Becky had proven her strength to Kuro the first day they had met.

“I should go through first,” Alvin said. “Just in case they react badly to us showing up.”

Becky’s lips pursed and she looked at the trail to the gate. “I don’t think you can get past.”

“I’ll get past,” Alvin pointed to a spot where the path would let him by. “I’ll go past you there, and then you follow me.” Turning his attention back to the dark-skinned elf, Alvin tempered his words, “Kuro, what are they likely to have sent to make sure the gate is neutral?”

“Maybe a hundred warriors each,” Kuro said softly.

“Thank you,” Alvin said to her gently. “Okay, let’s see what kind of a welcome party they have waiting for us.”

Once he was back in the Humvee, Alvin went past the Mustang and led them through the gate. Blinking against a pulse of bright light, Alvin found himself on a vast plain of short grass. To the left of them, a battle was being waged by two different armies, the heraldry on one side showing a stylized sun, and a similarly stylized moon on the other.

Coming to a stop, Alvin wondered if he should get involved in the conflict. Before he could make up his mind, a detachment of riders headed toward him.

“Well, fuck,” Alvin cursed. “Jarvis, be ready with the M240B, just in case they get froggy.”

Character Info

Alvin Leon Lambert

Human (78,380 experience)

Brawn 4

Nimbleness 5

Aptitude 5

Personability 4

Hardiness 6

Spells:

Powers:

Kiosk Vendor (Gain 15% of XP spent at your kiosks)

Leader

Home Base

AI Smartcar

Multiple AI

AI Chauffeur

Linguist

Extra Life

1969 Mustang Boss 429 (Rare)

Armor: 900,982/1,000,000

Runes: 0/0

No longer needs fuel to run, Indestructible tires good for all terrain and conditions even off-road, Four times initial durability, Six more armor

M1114 UAH (Uncommon)

Armor: 600,985/625,000

Runes: 3/4

Fuel, Tires, Durability- 25%

Armament: M240B

Damage: 8

Durability: 22,202/25,000

Ammo type: 7.62x51mm Nato (200 round belt feed)

Runes: 4/4

Reload: 10 seconds, Armor Buster: 33%, Durability: 25%, Wounding- 10%

Zombie Cap (Rare)

Armor: 491/500

Runes: 0/0

Weather, Ten times initial durability, Six more armor

Zombie Shirt (Rare)

Armor: 489/500

Runes: 0/0

Weather, Ten times initial durability, Four more armor, One spot of storage space

Leather Patched Denim Pants (Rare)

Armor: 511/550

Runes: 0/0

Weather, Ten times initial durability, Six more armor

Combat Boots (Rare)

Armor: 567/600

Runes: 0/0

Weather, Ten times initial durability, Six more armor

Leather Duster (Rare)

Armor: 408/750

Runes: 0/0

Weather, Ten times initial durability, Four more armor, One spot of storage space

Interceptor Body Armor (Uncommon)

Armor: 844/1000

Runes: 0/0

Ten times initial durability, Four more armor

Fingerless Kevlar Gloves (Rare)

Armor: 244/250

Runes: 0/0

Two spots of storage space, Ten times initial durability, Four more armor

IMI Desert Eagle .357 Magnum (Rare)

Damage: 4

Durability: 942/1000

Ammo type: .357 Magnum (9-round magazine)

Runes: 0/0

Unlimited ammo on reload, Five times initial durability, Jacketed- doubles damage to armor, Steel jacketed

Type 56 (Rare)

Damage: 7

Durability: 3,984/5,000

Ammo type: 7.62x39 mm (30-round magazine)

Runes: 0/0

Unlimited ammo on reload, Five times initial durability, Jacketed- double damage to armor, Steel jacketed

Remington 700 (Uncommon)

Damage: 8

Durability: 2,471/2,500

Ammo type: .308 Winchester (10-round magazine)

Modifications: Suppressor, 10x40 scope, Bipod, Sling, 10-round removable magazine

Runes: 4/4

Reload: 10 seconds, Durability- 25%, Silence- 20%, Armor Buster- 33%

H&K Ump (Uncommon)

Damage: 3

Durability: 3,514/3,750

Ammo type: .40 S&W (30-round magazine)

Modifications: Suppressor, Vertical foregrip, High intensity flashlight, Reflex sight

Runes: 4/4

Reload: 10 seconds, Durability- 25%, Silence- 20%, Armor Buster- 33%

Barrett M82 (Rare)

Damage: 16

Durability: 1,897/2,500

Ammo type: .50 BMG (10-round magazine)

Modifications: Bipod, Sling, 10-round magazine, 14x50 scope

Runes: 0/0

Unlimited ammo on reload, Ten times initial durability, Jacketed- doubles damage to armor, Steel jacketed, Holy ammo

K-bar (Uncommon)

Damage: 1+Brawn

Durability: 625/625

Metal: Steel

Runes: 4/4

Bloody, Wounding, Poisoned, Durability- 25%

Rebecca Alina Woodrow aka Becky aka Gothy

Human - (Bound to Alvin Leon Lambert)  (18,450 experience)

Brawn 4

Nimbleness 4

Aptitude 6

Personability 4

Hardiness 6

Spells:

Powers:

Contracted

Linguist

Extra Life

Succubus Hat (Uncommon)

Armor: 49/49

Runes: 4/4

Impervious, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%

Leather Corset (Rare)

Armor: 228/250

Runes: 0/0

Five times initial durability, Six more armor, One spot of storage space, Weather

Leather Pants (Rare)

Armor: 165/250

Runes: 0/0

Five times initial durability, Eight more armor, Weather

Combat Boots (Rare)

Armor: 267/300

Runes: 0/0

Five times initial durability, Eight more armor, Weather

Long Leather Jacket (Rare)

Armor: 80/250

Runes: 0/0

Five times initial durability, Six more armor, One spot of storage space, Weather

Interceptor Body Armor (Uncommon)

Armor: 812/1000

Runes: 0/0

Ten times initial durability, Two more armor

Black Lace Gloves (Rare)

Armor: 99/100

Runes: 0/0

Ten times initial durability, Six more armor, Two spots of storage space

Remington 870 Police (Uncommon)

Damage: 10 (Depends on range)

Durability: 1,711/2,000

Ammo type: Slug (5-round internal tube magazine)

Runes: 0/0

Unlimited ammo on reload, Five times initial durability, Armor Buster- doubles damage to armor, Steel jacketed

S&W 1911 (Uncommon)

Damage: 3

Durability: 1,185/1,250

Ammo type: .45 ACP (7-round magazine)

Runes: 0/0

Unlimited ammo on reload, Five times initial durability, Armor Buster- doubles damage to armor, Steel jacketed

MP5-N (Rare)

Damage: 2

Durability: 3,431/3,750

Ammo type: 9x19mm Parabellum (30-round magazine)

Modifications: Suppressor, Vertical foregrip, High intensity flashlight, Reflex sight

Runes: 6/6

Reload- 10 seconds, Durability- 25%, Silence- 20% , Wounding- Bleed 10%, Bloody- 33%, Armor Buster- 33%

Thompson Submachine Gun (Uncommon)

Damage: 3

Durability: 3,005/3,750

Ammo type: .45 ACP (100-round drum)

Modifications: 100-round drum

Runes: 4/4

Reload- 10 seconds, Durability- 25%, Recoil- 10%, Armor Buster- 33%

K-bar (Uncommon)

Damage: 1+Brawn

Durability: 625/625

Metal: Steel

Runes: 4/4

Bloody, Wounding, Poisoned, Durability- 25%

Kuro Lightskin

Queen’s Elf - (Bound to Alvin Leon Lambert & Rebecca Alina Woodrow)  (3,235 experience)

Brawn 3

Nimbleness 9

Aptitude 5

Personability 7

Hardiness 4

Spells:

Powers:

Contracted

Blade Dancer

Mouse Hat (Uncommon)

Armor: 97/97

Runes: 4/4

Impervious, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%

Leather Chestguard (Rare)

Armor: 257/304

Runes: 6/6

Impervious, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%

Leather Pants (Rare)

Armor: 271/304

Runes: 6/6

Impervious, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%

Nryad Boots (Rare)

Increased traction on any surface

Armor: 199/226

Runes: 6/6

Impervious, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%

Blade Dancer’s Gloves (Rare)

Armor: 127/145

Runes: 6/6

Impervious, Holding, Holding, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%, Durability- 25%

Leather Belt (Uncommon)

Armor: 86/93

Rune 4/4

Impervious, Durability- 25%, Holding, Holding

Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

Damage: 2+Brawn

Durability: 11,356/15,000

Metal type: Lirium

Runes: 4/4

Bloody- 33%, Wounding- 10%, Silver, Poisoned blade

Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

Damage: 2+Brawn

Durability: 11,128/15,000

Metal type: Lirium

Runes: 4/4

Phantom, Holy, Wounding- 10%, Fire

Author’s Note

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A big thank you to my editors, Jennifer York and Samantha Bishop. Also props to Geno Ferrarini, and Sean Hickinbotham for being my Alpha Readers. I’d be remiss if I didn’t include my beta readers, in no particular order: Zee-*-Ian McAdams-*-Arthur Cuelho-*-Scott Brown-*-Buddy Brown-*-A. J. Bishop-*-Tarcha Saleeba-*-Alec Young-*-Jay Taylor-*-Justin Johanson, Josh Holmes-*-Rob Bunting-*-Isidore Fitch-*-Christina Norton-*-Luke Reynolds-*-Sawyer Aubrey-*-Nigel Hollingworth-*-Aoife Megami-*-Robert Peterson-*-Sullivan Grimm-*-Shane Bird-*-Steve Robles-*-William Reid-*-Nick Kuhns.

The cover for Gearing Up is brought to you by Anthony Bishop, a very talented artist. You can find him at https://grimmworks.tumblr.com/

A big thanks to my Patreon supporters who have gone above and beyond in their support:

J. Patrick Walker-*-Damien Osborne-*-Kyle J Smith-*-Spencer Jefferson-*-Derek Morgan-*-Kyle Gravelle-*-Jack Ling-*-Andrew Heffelbower-*-Michael Moneymaker-*-Ren Giles-*-Stephan Wise-*-Christopher B.-*-Susan Lofbom-*-Brian O.-*-Jordan Silvester-*-Alexander Rodriguez-*-Alexis K.-*-James Domec-*-Michael Jones-*-Sawyer Aubrey-*-Joshua Knapp-*-Avery Dextator-*-John Flenady-*-Sean Emanuel-*-Jacob Tackett-*-Viking-*-Daniel Alexander Womack-*-Bradley White-*-Jeffrey Buchanan-*-Godofcookie-*-Jarred Medlock-*-Theodore Ursa-*-David Florish-*-Cody Carter-*-Adrian Sinclair-*-Logan Cochrane-*-Charles Groark-*-William Merrick-*-MrNyxt-*-Travis Hillard-*-Grimmhelm-*-Bryant Autrey-*-Oxyloch-*-Experience Community-*-J.G. Patton-*-Robert Shofner-*-Kevin McKinney-*-Timothy Eskew-*-Kevin Harris-*-Joey Dawson-*-Kevin Kollman-*-Kenneth Steinagel-*-Stephan Juba-*-Terry Wood-Davies-*-Funder Fundington-*-Jason Broderick

I would like to point you all towards some fellow authors whose works I enjoy:

William Arand: Author of Otherlife Dreams, Super Sales on Superheros, and Dungeon Deposed. Along with his alter ego Randi Darren: Author of Wild Wastes and Fostering Faust.

https://www.amazon.com/William-D.-Arand/e/B01AY7PSG4

Blaise Corvin: Author of Delvers LLC, which is an amazing GameLit series. He also penned the Nora series.

https://www.amazon.com/Blaise-Corvin/e/B01LYK8VG5

Scottie Futch: Is a prolific author who can be found on Royal Road and Amazon. Galactic Fist of Legend, Earth Tactics Advance, and Galataea Crystallim are just a few of his works.

https://www.amazon.com/Scottie-Futch/e/B00NCSEN28

Eden Redd: She might be mentioned last but she is definitely worth the read, more so if you like some adult content. Her Lewd Saga series combines erotica and LITRPG.

https://www.amazon.com/Eden-Redd/e/B00I8X8BCK

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