69. The Morning After
69 – The Morning After
While other people were sorting through the ashes of their trailers or helping displaced folk get settled, Andy and several others gathered up the bodies of their fellow citizens—and their enemies alike. Half the volunteers split off to drag the dead Hardheads down the trail to the vacant lot, where they’d build a bonfire. As for the dead residents, Andy and the others carried them outside the fence into the field beyond the spring, where the newly formed stream flowed over the cliff’s edge.
The ground there was softer than elsewhere on the mesa, likely due to the spring’s proximity and the way the System had somehow terraformed the soil and rock. The grass in the area was greener and denser, and numerous small edible plants and tiny trees were beginning to grow. It was a pretty area, and coincidentally, where they’d buried the other residents who’d died since the first night.
Besides Andy, there were a good twenty people helping with the burial, but only five shovels in the park—at least that they’d been able to find. Andy figured any others had been cannibalized to make spears or other weapons. So, they took turns digging, and the process took a while, even with twenty people pitching in—they had nine bodies to bury. Andy went over the litany of names in his head again:
There was Paul Howl, his daughter, Nadia, and her husband, Thomas. The surviving members of the Howl family were all there, helping to dig the graves. Both Shawna and Silas, the Hardhead defectors, had been killed trying to stop Brooks and his crew from climbing up the side of the cliff. Their deaths had hit Andy kind of hard. He’d struggled to justify allowing them to join the settlement, and now they were dead after trying to defend it. Three people he’d rescued from the Whistler’s giant snake had died, too: Kayla Benton, her niece, Alexa, and Brittany, Alexa’s friend—just teenagers.
Andy felt each of those deaths personally, but the one that hit him the hardest was the last one on his little mental litany—Isaiah. The young man with his almost-healed foot had been standing watch over the two prisoners when some Hardheads who’d breached the perimeter had stumbled upon him. Andy’s only consolation came from Mari Gomez, who swore the perpetrators—and the two prisoners—died before they could celebrate killing Isaiah.
After the last grave had been filled in and James stuck the last marker with Alexa’s name burned into the wood into the packed dirt, everyone stood around quietly. Andy wondered if someone should say something, or, more precisely, if he should, but it seemed like everyone was deep in their own thoughts, and it was clear some were praying quietly. After a while, some of them began to leave, and he was left standing there, wondering what more he could do—what more he should do.
“None of their deaths are on you,” Lucy whispered, coming to stand beside him.
Andy inhaled and sighed heavily. “I know that. I mean, logically, I know that. I still feel it, though.”
She nodded, kneeling to grab hold of Shawna’s wooden cross and straighten it. “I hope we can make better markers someday. We should write some kind of note on here. I mean, about how they died defending the settlement.”
“Yeah, that would be nice.” Andy turned to survey the park, especially the columns of smoke still drifting into the sky from the burned trailers. “I hope we can figure out a lot of stuff. Does anyone have, like, a builder class?”
Lucy snorted, standing up and brushing the dirt off her knees and thighs. “Maybe. I haven’t looked at Ed’s list lately. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to focus on stuff like that for a while now, though.”
“Yeah, hopefully. Still more than a month before the System starts importing people from other worlds. It would be cool if we remaining humans could work together until then.”
“Do you think it’ll go well? The, um, peace meeting?”
“I hope so. I don’t know who’s left over there, but hopefully they’re more like her”—he nodded to Shawna’s grave at their feet—“than Rhodes or Brooks.”
“Brooks!” Lucy shuddered. “Wasn’t that freaky?”
Andy thought back to the way the man’s body had stretched and popped, expanding with muscle, fur, and claws. “Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to describe it. Like, where did his mass even come from?”
“Magic, I guess.”
“Yeah, mana—it makes everything we learned in science class obsolete.”
“Not everything! I mean, things still function according to the rules we’ve always known. There are just some new rules on top.”
Andy nodded slowly, but he didn’t exactly agree. “Only, we don’t know the new rules.”
“Maybe not, but we’re learning. I got four levels last night.”
“Damn! Nice, Lucy. I think a lot of people got some levels.”
“Yep.”
“Speaking of levels”—Andy started walking toward the gate—“let’s go see what’s new at the System Node.” Lucy walked along beside him, and they passed a lot of busy people along the way through the trailer park to the grassy area at the center. Andy thought about that as they approached—it really was grassy. The whole time he’d lived at the trailer park, the “dog park” at the center had been covered in mostly-yellow, patchy, dry grass. Now, though, the grass was thick and green, and lots of little flowering plants were growing in it.
Andy squatted by one with small blue flowers. “I’m not a plant expert, but these look like they’re part of our boon, don’t you think? Like, maybe they’ll start sprouting berries or something.”
Lucy looked at the plant and bent to pluck one of the flowers. When she held it to her nose and sniffed, her smile was infectious. “It’s so nice! Smell it!” As Andy stood, she held the little blossom up to his nose, and he sniffed.
“Yeah, um, very…floral.”
She laughed. “So descriptive! It reminds me almost of jasmine, but don’t you get a faint hint of something herbal, too? It’s almost spicy.”
This tale has been pilfered from NovelFire. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Andy shrugged. “You’re the expert, I guess.” He stepped over the little plant, aiming toward the floating, metallic System Node. It didn’t look any different to him, though he thought it might have been a tiny bit larger. In the morning sun, it was hard to see the glow, but when he cupped his hands around the orb, he saw it was still there.
He knew he could call up the Settlement Menu from anywhere, but something made him want to interact with the node directly, so he rested his palm on the faintly pliable, warm surface. Immediately, the menu filled his vision:
Settlement Menu:
Settlement Name: Sleepy Saguaro Trailer Park
Leader: Andy West
Successor: Violet Ruiz
Active Effects: --
Settlement Level: 2
Citizens: 51
Boons:
System Node
Freshwater Spring
Natural Bulwark
Forager’s Bounty
Boon Points: 1
Boons Available:
Hearthflame Ember
Veil of Stillness
Whisperwood Grove
System Trade Beacon
Quests Available:
- Complete Peace Accords with the Hardhead Construction City Settlement Objective: Travel to the Hardhead Construction City settlement and initiate formal peace talks. Decide on terms for a mutual protection pact, neutral coexistence, or open conflict.
Threats: Unknown entities may attempt to sabotage talks from either side. Hostile threats may be encountered on the way to the talks.
Reward: Possible Diplomatic Channel – a new feature in the Settlement Menu enabling limited contact with nearby settlements, and the chance for future trade, joint ventures, or additional quests.
***Whisperwood Grove: A small grove of fast-growing, magically resonant trees will begin thriving near the settlement. These trees will provide access to high-quality bow staves and specialty woods ideal for fletching, carving, or crafting light armor.***
“Ah!” Lucy said softly. “Did you read about the grove?”
“Yeah.” Andy chuckled. He could see why she’d be excited about that one. He touched the other new option:
***System Trade Beacon: Unlocks basic System trade notifications. Once per week, the settlement will receive a Market Ping, revealing a resource that is currently in demand or surplus within nearby settlements. Enables early barter agreements and lays the groundwork for future System Market access.***
“Okay,” Andy said, arching an eyebrow, “the trade beacon seems cool, too, but maybe we don’t need it just yet. It makes me hopeful that the System doesn’t expect us to go to war with every new neighbor we find, though.”
“No need to make any decisions, yet.” Lucy pulled her hand away from the Nexus. “Didn’t the System say that more options might be available after your peace talks?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Andy closed his menu. “I guess we’ve got a few hours before we need to head over there. Any plans?”
She nodded, yawning. “A nap.”
“Yeah. I’ll probably head to my trailer. The System owes me some rewards, anyway.”
“Same. I guess I’ll go. I need to check on my trailer, anyway. See you in a few hours?”
Andy stretched, stifling a yawn. “Yep, sounds good. See you soon.”
With that, they both walked out of the little dog park gate. Lucy went to the right while he continued straight ahead. Naturally, his brain wouldn’t let him relax as he walked. He kept thinking about how Lucy had held his hand earlier that morning, wondering if there was something he was supposed to say or a certain way he was supposed to act. Why did humans make relationships so complicated?
He supposed he ought to be grateful that his mind was busy worrying about the proprieties of trying to date during the apocalypse; it kept him from thinking about the people who’d died or the many that he’d killed. When the thought ran through his mind briefly, however, he tried to compartmentalize it into a box where he stuffed all the things he couldn’t control. All he could do was hope that they’d meet some more decent people and that he’d be able to effectively establish some peaceful relations.
Inside his trailer, he leaned his spear against the wall, unbuckled his belt, and sat down on the couch with his waterskin in hand. He yawned again, took a long drink of spring water, and then some clouds of colored steam began to bubble up from the floor near his feet. “At least you didn’t make me wait long,” he said, trusting that the System was spying on him per usual.
Two of the columns of steam were bluish in color, but the third was a glittering golden-red. Andy waved his hand through it, trying to fan it off, and when it cleared, he peered at the floor, wondering what he’d earned. Three distinct objects met his eye—a cloth pouch about the size of his fist, a small leather-bound book, and a folded black garment.
Andy picked up the pouch, noting the heaviness and the clink of something that sounded very much like coins. Naturally, it reminded him of his day-one reward when he’d found three golden coins in a pouch. This one was much heavier. He pulled open the drawstring and peered inside, tilting the opening so the light from the window behind him shone inside. The glint of silver met his eye, so he poured a few of the coins into his palm. Sure enough, they gleamed in the light, heavy and rich.
He figured there had to be close to a hundred of the nickel-sized coins there. As he put the ones in his hand back into the little bag, he wondered if he had more than a pound there. Hadn’t that been what the recipe for the spear James had given him had called for? “Yeah,” he whispered aloud, “a pound of silver.” Smiling, he closed the bag and picked up the little book.
It was small and thin, and when he opened the cover and looked at the first page, his heart began to race with excitement. It had the same kinds of runes he’d seen on the Codex fragments he’d earned. He hurriedly closed the book and turned it left and right. Why hadn’t the System told him what it was? Were the training wheels coming off? He knew how to activate it if it was a Codex entry. Did he want to, though? What if it were something that might benefit someone else?
He tried to remember if he’d get an option to refuse. He would, right? Didn’t the System ask him if he wanted to absorb the Pyroglyph Invoker class? “I’ll save you for last,” he said, putting the book beside him on the couch. Then he stooped to pick up the folded cloth. When he unfurled it, he realized it was a cloak—an actual cloak like they wore in fantasy movies and games. To his relief, there was a small piece of cardstock inside the garment’s inner pocket. He pulled it out and read the little note:
Cloak of deep shadows – This garment is enchanted to make hiding in shadows and darkness easier. More than that, it will avoid tangling with the environment and provide bonus resistances to elemental magic.
“Well, shit,” Andy said, holding it up, wondering how it would fit and whether it would be comfortable to have a sheet hanging from around his neck. He supposed that, in exchange for the promised benefits, he’d endeavor to get used to it. It felt like it would be comfortable, at least—lightweight with a silky inner lining. Unable to wait any longer, he set the garment to the side and picked up the book again. “Okay, let’s see what you’re all about.”
Holding his breath, he opened the first page again and stared at the strange glyphs. Just as he’d hoped, they began to shift and move on the page. After a few seconds, as the movement became more rapid, a System message appeared:
***You’ve activated a rare Codex fragment: Fracture the Limit. This is a one-time-use ritual. When performed with intent and clarity of purpose, it will allow you to push a single skill, spell, or attribute beyond its natural limit. The result will be immediate and may lead to evolution, divergence, or the emergence of new potential. Performing the ritual will remove it from your consciousness. Do you wish to absorb this fragment?***
Andy felt his mouth going dry as he read through the message. When he reached the end, he hastily said, “No,” and closed the book. Of course, he was tempted, but he had a lot of thinking to do before he made that decision.