New Message from Jenn: Farmers?

  New Message from Party Leader CJ: Yeah, like three of them chose farming classes. It took me almost twenty minutes to get them all up to speed.

  New Message from Elena: We’ve met up with Monty. You’re going to want to see this.

  CJ managed to reconnect the Slates of all the no phones that were hiding out in the medical tent. Most of which had non-combat classes. They chose to stay behind as Redmond, Cynthia, and two others joined CJ.

  They made their way through the dilapidated tent city around the main building to the east. CJ’s nose was assaulted by the smell of unwashed bodies and piles of trash. Seems like no one realized they should make a compost somewhere or that nobody was coming to pick it up. Here and there they saw dead bodies from the most recent attack. The timbers used to create the inner wall that separated the no phone section from the government building seemed to have melded into each other. Tommy’s doing no doubt. The wall stood about fifteen feet high all around except for the entrance gate on the south side of the compound. CJ hadn’t heard any gunfire since sneaking into the reservoir. Up ahead he saw Monty standing with the others.

  “What’s the situation?” he asked upon approach.

  They all looked up at him before pointing to the drag marks on the ground. Dozens of them scraped in the dirt heading from a group of tents and scattered tools straight out into the cleared area past the outer gate. CJ’s tracking skill kicked in although he didn’t need it. He knew where they were going.

  “Doc, have the cicada’s been taking people?” CJ asked frowning.

  “Well, people have been going missing for several days,” he stated with a renewed look of worry on his face. “I’ve seen them do it. I’m typically treating people that come back from fighting them.”

  One of the newly connected people stepped forward next to speak up.

  “They have absolutely been taking people.” The man gestured wildly to the sky and through the gate. “I’ve seen them fly in over the walls under heavy gunfire and land on people. Then they start dragging them away while the guards focus on shooting the ones they can see. It wasn’t until this last attack that the guards left us all out here to fend for ourselves.”

  CJ watched the pain and hurt shift across the mans face. He was a brown haired man with a modest build. He looked malnourished recently, which CJ didn’t understand since before he left they were feeding everyone. His clothes were tattered but being connected to his Slate seems to be putting some color back in his cheeks. The slate system was sinister. This wasn’t the first time CJ had seen someone become healthier after being connected. It was like getting a readout of your health bar tricked your body into feeling better. It’s not like everyone has regeneration like him and Monty. Then again, he supposed that would be dependent on their class. Maybe it was accessing mana for the first time. CJ would have to make a mental note of this and circle back when the situation wasn’t so dire.

  “What’s the plan?” asked Jenn, shaking CJ from his thoughts. “Do we go after the ones that got captured or try to break into the fortified bunker?”

  “We’ve got competing objectives.” CJ said aloud as he held up two fingers. “We absolutely should try to chase down the people who were taken but they are being dragged into that high corruption zone. We’ll take HP damage just spending time in there. Also, there are children inside that bunker. We need to get them out and back to Leaf’s Bend. This is Doc Redmond and his wife Cynthia by the way.”

  “Pleasure to meet you.” Cynthia said with a little wave of her hand.

  “Hello.” Replied Redmond as he walked over to the inner wall, running a hand along it. “I’m not leaving without my boys.”

  CJ looked up at the wall spotting an empty hunter’s blind attached to the top. He instructed everyone to meet him at the entrance. He was going to get the gate open. The two new people decided to head off after the drag marks to see if they could slow the cicada’s down long enough for them to catch up. CJ mentioned that he was very brave but how would he slow them with no weapons?

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Who said I didn’t have any weapons?” the man questioned back before yellow energy surrounded his body and morphed into a bear with fur that matched his mop of brown hair.

  He stood seven foot tall at the shoulder, on two feet. Flopping down his head flicked toward the gate and his compatriot nodded before wreathing himself in electricity. That man shot off through the gate at speed followed closely behind by the bear.

  “Damn, didn’t even get their names.” Mused CJ before Doc Redmond called over his shoulder.

  “The Ferreli brothers. They’re good people.” Redmond wrapped his knuckles against the wood hearing a dull thunk. “How do you intend to get over this?”

  “A magician never reveals his…” began CJ before seeing the serious expression on Redmond’s face. “I’m going to teleport to the blind and hop down to the opposite side. Shouldn’t take me too long to get back around to the south entrance.”

  Redmond gave him a look like he’d need to explain a little more before giving up and nodding. He grabbed his wife’s hand, and they jogged after CJ’s party members.

  That left CJ by himself staring at the top of the wooden wall. One quick execution of Flashportation announced his presence at the top of the wall. He stood in the hunting blind which was little more than a wooden pallet bolted to the inside of the wall with a roof over it suspended by wooden dowels. The entire structure seemed slapdash at best. There was knotted rope that led down to the ground in front of the building. CJ clumsily and slowly climbed down it.

  Once at the bottom he looked around. There was a case of rifle ammunition on a card table. It hadn’t even been opened yet. That was strange since someone had to be stationed here at some point. Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, he poured the contents into his right sleeve before spinning to the south. He moved quickly as he applied all twenty points of his speed to the in endeavor. CJ passed lawn chairs, some sofas, and multiple BBQ grills. It was like they were having a backyard get together. The only thing they were missing was a pool. That’s where CJ was wrong as he made it to the gate he could see through the windows into the Reservoir proper. There was a huge central cistern full of water. It seemed like the first floor of the building was mostly that. He could see walkways circling the interior with doors dotted along the inside track. CJ’s sightseeing tour ended there as the sound of someone yelling was coming from the doorway.

  “Who are you?” Said the guard wearing full Flaming Pitchfork livery. “What are you doing outside? Jerry told all of us to come in here and hold the Res. Why don’t I know your face?”

  CJ needed to think quickly. He internally chastised himself for not using Now you Don’t.

  “I got stuck outside. Had to climb over.”

  “Why didn’t you use the North Entrance?” asked the guard raising one eyebrow suspiciously.

  “Well, I was coming back through the south and didn’t want to go all the way around.”

  “What did you say your name was?”

  “Man, you ask a lot of question.”

  His Kinetic Barrier lit up as two shots slammed into his chest from the doorway of the building. Stumbling, he fell into the wooden gate. CJ’s mana level increased from thirty to sixty five. This guy must have a class that gave him bonuses to firearms. He could see from his new vantage that the gate was being held shut by a thick wooden slab attached to a winch. You needed to pull the rope to lift one end and get the gates to swing open. He’d deal with that in a moment. First he had to convince this guy that he was going down.

  CJ put his left hand over his chest as his right hand came up to cradle it. The guard started down the five steps that led up to the front door to confirm his kill. The CJ flung out a King of Spades that sunk three quarters of the card into the guard’s chest. Blood spurted from his mouth as he dropped to his knees. The imagery was mirrored as CJ looked across the ten feet at the guy. They were both on their knees but he guard had dropped his handgun in favor of pulling at the card.

  The guard gingerly grasped at the card before gently pulling on it. An inch or so came out before another gout of blood fountained from his mouth. The guard grimaced in pain. His eyes were wild now and the card in his chest twitched with every labored heartbeat. He stopped pulling on the card as blood ran down his uniform. Both arms went slack and fell to his side as his final death rattle filled the area.

  CJ didn’t move a single muscle. He didn’t hear boots running down hallways or anything. The king represents forty damage. Forty damage directly to the heart. The guard must have died from blood loss or the inability to continue pumping blood. It was horrible to watch but the man did shoot him. CJ got up to his feet before casting Earth Fist to pull the rope for the gate. The fist grew up out of the ground and yanked hard on the rope. The wooden slab shot up enabling the gate to swing wide open.

  “Holy shit!” said Redmond as he rushed past the others but stopped by the kneeling guard. “Is that a playing card embedded in his aorta?”

  “Secure the entrance. Someone must have heard that gunfire. Be careful, these guys seemed to be pretty well trained in firearms.” CJ barked orders to his team like a sergeant in the military before taking out his last bullet proof vest. “Close quarters inside but a large cistern in the center of the building. I can easily see bullets flying across the gap once this kicks off. Cynthia, you better put this on.”