Elemental Accords 1-11

Good Morning my people!

Chapter 11

I felt a tug at my sleeve. Turning I found Anemone and Ruby looking up at me. “Mister. Lara said I was fine and to come thank you,” Anemone said.

I reached down and ruffled her hair. “No problem, kid. Did you get something to eat?” I asked looking to both of them.

They nodded then frowned, I guess you’re never too young to sense a tense topic about to come up, as I kneeled and placed a hand on their shoulders. “Good to hear. Now, I need you to make a grown-up decision. If you two want to come with us, you can, but we’re leaving the city. If your parents are still here, then that might not be what you want to do.”

Ruby took his sister’s hand and made a hard face. “Mommy and poppy were… they… umm…”

I gave him a smile and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I understand. Then feel free to come with us. I promise to protect as best as I can.”

They both gave me a rough nod. One of the women came and took their hand and moved back into the store. I stood up and checked the time. It was close to noon. If we wanted to make it out of the city, we would need to get started. As if were, I doubted that we would make it to the edge before sundown. Not if there were a lot of monsters in our way.

I gave a glance to check the surroundings then moved into the store as well. I found everyone sitting around the pile of supplies they’d gathered eating a small feast. That was a good idea since they might not get the chance to eat until they’re full again after this. I would be rationing the food and water until we found something to make up the difference later.

Joining in, I quickly ate my fill of junk food. Once I was done, I stood in front of the group. “Alright. We’re making for the edge of the city. That’s nearly forty blocks from here. Best case scenario is that we make it before sundown and camp in a house on the edge of town. Worst case being that we take two days of fighting and camping to reach it.”

“Should we look for other survivors on our way?”

“Certainly. If the coast looks clear, then we can announce our presence to the nearby houses. If anyone is alive, they are more than welcome to join us,” I replied with a nod. I had thought it over while I was on watch. I’d rather save as many people as we could rather than leave people to die. Even if it means our resources might be strained later.

Lara looked like she wanted to argue but I just shook my head at her. She pouted but nodded. I had only known her for a day or two, but I had a good understanding of the woman. She cared for her own safety greatly and what needed to happen to make sure she remained safe.

“Then let’s go! We’re burning daylight!” Rai exclaimed jumping to her feet. The women nodded and got to their feet as well. One by one they shouldered a bulging backpack. Even the kids put on school packs that were filled to the brim. I realized it was a good decision even if it slowed us down a bit. If they got separated or the unimaginable happened, which there was a lot of right now, they would have a few supplies of their own.

Lara noticed me looking and gave a thumbs up. I grinned and shook my head before turning to head outside.

~~~

I waved the others after checking the side streets. I don’t know the cause, but the main street we were following was void of anything living. At least that meant we didn’t encounter any monsters. Sadly, we didn’t come across any humans either. Well, plenty of corpses.

After we checked a few, I was sure they were from the initial start of the apocalypse. They mostly had terrified face and lacked any sort of weapon. Even a desperate person could use a kitchen knife or something similar to defend themselves if they were forced outside to look for supplies.

Another thing that bothered me was the amount of goblin corpses. I was all for dead monsters, but whatever did the killing hadn’t been human. The bodies were liberally torn apart by something that had to at least as thick as my arm as the jagged marks on the concrete would suggest. Just another thing I’d rather avoid running into any time soon.

“Looks like the goblins got what they deserved,” I commented to Rai as she joined me with the others. Intersections were the most dangerous, but we had worked out a safe enough method.

“Let’s just hope we’re not in the new boss’s territory,” she replied as she covered her mouth and nose. While we all were getting used to blood and juts, scenes like this could make anyone sick to their stomach. The three-day old smell of rotting bodies didn’t help the matter.

I glanced up at the sky. We had covered a third of the main street to the outskirts with realitve ease, but it had still eaten up a lot of time. We needed to start looking for a place to hold up for the night soon. I cleared my throat and turned to the rest of the group. The trip so far had been short yet hard for most of them. Many were carrying more weight than they were used to.

“We’re going to look for a place to spend the night. Does anyone know this area?” I asked hopeful to get some information before poking my nose around. Unfortunately, I only got head shakes. “Very well. We’ll find one in about an hour. Keep your eyes open if you see a good place.” A few groans emerged when I said we had another hour to go, but I blatantly ignored it. We had to make some time. I turned on my heel and continued walking.

As we moved down the street, everyone tried to peer into the windows of the buildings we passed, but none were brave enough to call out. I didn’t blame them. I didn’t call out either. I was all for saving people, but I wasn’t in much of a position to ‘offer’ protection to anyone we found. I could barely protect the ones I already said I would.

“Intersection,” I noted to Rai.

“I’ll go this time. Cover me,” she said stretching some to ready herself.

I nodded and swapped to my bow. I had the group gather to one side of the street then gave Rai the signal. She nodded and moved to peer around the corner. She turned to look the other way and must have decided the coast was clear as she moved out into the joining street. She stood in the open for thirty seconds before breathing out in relief and crossing the rest of the way.

It was a precaution we decided upon when I crossed a previous intersection and the monster had waited until I was across to double back on the next person. Thankfully, I had my bow, and it was only a goblin. I was able to take it out before it got ahold of the woman that was crossing.

Rai waved at us. I moved to the corner of the street and nocked an arrow before gesturing for the group to head across. Rai copied me on the other street. One by one the women ran across. The children went toward the middle along with Lara. Finally, only I remained to cross.

The ground rumbled and I paused before I moved. From the sense I got, I thought it was quite a distance away. I hoped that meant more humans were managing to fight back. After the tutorial, everyone should have gotten a power or two. Plenty of people could have gotten something like my Gold is Might.

I cleared my head of the idle thoughts and started across the street. I was about halfway across when I felt the ground shake again. This time, it was different from the previous tremor. I took a breath as I glanced around. Sadly, I should have looked down.

The asphalt burst out around me as a maw nearly the size of a car exploded up around me. I only had a split second to think. I put my bow away into my storage faster than I thought was possible and pulled out two arrows. I used them like stacks and stabbed into the gums before the ground under me vanished into the gullet that smelled even worse than the death we had been dealing with all day.

“Not today, you mother!” I shouted pulling up on the arrows. I threw myself out just as the jaws closed. I dropped to the ground painfully and rolled away from the monster. Coming to a stop in a defensive position, I took in the outside of the monster. Other than looking nastier than a trash heap, it looked exactly like a worm that had been withering in steroids for a few decades.

The worm opened and closed its maw a few times before it pulled back into the hole. I held my breath but I felt it had gone. At least for the moment. Slowly releasing my tension, I stood up and walked slowly the rest of the distance to the group.

“It’s official. I hate this world,” I said as I pulled a towel from my storage. Using it to wipe the slime or mucus off, I dreaded the fact that I knew that the smell was never going to come out.

Next:

Previous: