June 23, 2025; He placed another armload of dead dry wood next to the small fire pit he had set up using chunks of broken concrete. He winced as he straightened up as a sharp pain lanced through his ribs. He was having trouble seeing out of his left eye. His cheek was swollen that much and he wondered briefly if his face was a different color. It almost looked yellowish-green from what he could make out through his near-swollen shut left eye. And every time he licked his busted lips they stung like hell.
"How are they doing?" He asked Tonya softly as he watched her put some things out of her pack into a pot of boiling water and a beefy aroma wafted through the area smelling of spices and meat. His mouth watered thinking about it.
"Dawn managed to regain enough to try healing him again." Tonya shrugged and shook her head. "Amy hasn't spoken since..." She trailed off glancing down in the direction of John and Hope's bodies. That's when a wave of drizzle washed over the area from west to east. Luckily they were quite dry under the overpass, however, as the cold front that brought the drizzle came through the temperature seemed to drop and Clay could see his breath in the dimming daylight.
Jill was sitting up the tent he had handed her and Amy was sitting up against a piece of concrete sobbing uncontrollably as she hugged herself. Tonya had draped a blanket around her as she was despondent to anything at the moment. That was understandable for Clay. The woman had just had her husband killed brutally.
He saw Dawn stand up from where she had been wrapping some of Luke's wounds up with bandages and walk towards him. He was surprised she didn't look like she wanted to shank him at the moment, but he figured she'd be back to normal as soon as she rested and Luke was a little better. When he realized she walked past the fire and was still coming he instinctively looked for somewhere to go but knew it was too late.
"Thank you, Mr Clay. I know you could have probably made it away while that bear was attacking us." She looked him right in the eye when she spoke as if reading his reactions. "Why would you risk yourself for us like that?" Her grey-blue eyes seemed to peer into his soul.
He shrugged. "I owed you Doc." He grimaced as the shrug had caused a sharp pain to lance through his right side.
"The fuck you did Clay Benton!" She pointed at a chunk of broken concrete nearby. "Sit. Let me see how bad that is." Her tone was strained, he could tell she was pushing well past exhaustion by now. He grunted again as he complied with her order and sat down, then started unbuttoning his flannel shirt.
"Even if that were the case." She looked at Amy and then back to Clay. "You could have died." She grimaced and sucked in a breath as his undershirt went over his head. "Look at your fucking body Clay!" She gently poked his swollen cheek. "Did you see that damn thing? I mean did you actually look before you jumped on it like it was a fucking rodeo bull!"
She shook her head as she gently started inspecting his ribs. "Nobody in their right God damn mind would have done something so... wreckless!" She grimaced as he sucked in a breath when her gently probing hand found his broken rib. "Tonya, I'm going to need some help wrapping his ribs if you don't mind?"
Tonya hurried to help and as they worked he couldn't help but look over at Luke and think, "You lucky fucker, at least you were unconscious for all that." As he winced from the tightness. He had a couple of lacerations on his hand that she had noticed before she started the inspection and Dawn exclaimed as they visibly closed before she could treat them. "You can heal?" She asked.
He licked his busted lips and replied, "Not much... and I don't know how it works." He looked at Luke and asked. "Will we be able to move tomorrow?" He knew Luke sure as hell looked like he was in pretty bad shape.
Dawn shook her head. "I'll be honest with you, I don't know Mr Clay." She walked over to the edge of the overpass only a few feet away, and using a steady stream of water pouring down from the highway above she washed the blood off her hands as best as she could. "I think we all know we can't stay here for long."
He nodded at Dawn's statement as Tonya walked up, bringing him a tin cup of the soup she had been working on. It was steaming and smelled great, he burned his busted lip taking a sip before saying, "Umm, thanks Tonya, that's good."
The woman flashed him a perfect smile and went back to the fire. "You're right, we can't stay here for long. Let me know if you need something." He turned and went to help Jill, sipping his cup of stew. Before long they had it set up, and a line ran for a tarp to keep the mist blowing in under the overpass from soaking everything else.
Everyone but Clay agreed he would have last watch and he had quickly fallen asleep sitting next to the fire. He had the feeling that he was being watched.
Jill woke him up to take his turn and shortly after he had stoked the small fire up enough to put heat out a few feet farther than it was, he started to feel like he was being watched again. The feeling persisted until it got bad enough the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. It was still raining and he scanned the wood line for any movement as the orangish-pink sunrise popped over the horizon and disappeared into the grey haze. He focused on the flashing golden orb at the edge of his vision, his status screen popped up.
Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40
Titles: Zombie Slayer
Level: 10
Class: Sovereign
Health Points: 291 / 450
Mystical Points: 62 / 74
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 26
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 22
Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility; Touch of the Divine; Lesser Spatial Storage; Aura of Malice; Regenerate
Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy; Eldritch Bolts; Web Bomb; Bone Spike
Remaining ability points to be allocated: 8
He focused, putting 4 points in Dexterity and 4 in Intelligence. He took another look before dismissing it.
Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40
Titles: Zombie Slayer
Level: 10
Class: Sovereign
Health Points: 291 / 450
Mystical Points: 70 / 82
Strength: 30
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Dexterity: 30
Intelligence: 24
Wisdom: 22
Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility; Touch of the Devine; Lesser Spatial Storage; Aura of Malice; Regenerate
Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy; Eldritch Bolts; Web Bomb; Bone Spike
The temperature was still hovering around forty though it felt much cooler as mist blew under the overpass and he thought he spotted something.
There! He saw something moving along the concrete divide from the direction of the mutated bear's corpse. He slowly got up, not wanting to alert whoever it was that he had spotted them, he made his way over to Jill and Tonya and nudged them to wake up. "Don't look, but I think we're about to have some company." He said quietly.
He had spotted three more figures trailing behind the first. And these three were raising their heads and sniffing as if they were tracking a scent.
Meanwhile, the other figure was quickly working its way up the interstate towards the interchange and had nearly made it to the first dry section. It was a good hundred yards ahead of the other figures but being the fucking apocalypse, and with the System Seed literally everyone was potentially a threat.
He made his way to Dawn, they had moved Luke into the tent and she was asleep inside. He crouched as if to tie his boots and gently shook her awake. As her grey-blue eyes snapped open he put his finger up to his lips to let her know to be quiet and nodded slightly towards the threat.
He strolled back to the spot he had been keeping watch at, summoning his axe from his spatial storage. He could see Jill had her makeshift mace nearby along with the riot shield. Tonya had a knife tucked into her sleeve. Of course, Clay had the pistol too, not that he wanted to have to use it. There was no telling how many monsters or fucking zombies would be drawn to the sound even this far outside the city if he used it.
He would only use a firearm in a legit life-or-death situation now.
He could see Dawn gently shaking Amy awake on the other side of the fire. He purposely looked past the spot where the lone figure was hiding behind the concrete divide and said loud enough all of them heard him, "We have company!" As if he had just spotted the three figures tracking the solo individual. He even moved a few steps in their direction to further sell the ploy.
"I see three. I can't tell if they're zombies, but they don't look like it from the way they're moving." Jill said. "Should we try to leave?"
He glanced over to the tent where Dawn and Amy were now trying to wake up Luke and heal him some more by the looks of the glow coming off Amy's hands. He looked back out at the steady rain and knew if they were hostile, they wouldn't be able to outpace them.
"No, we won't outrun them. And it doesn't look like this rain is going to stop anytime soon by the looks of that sky. Stay ready, we don't know if they're hostile, but if they are..." He left the rest unsaid.
He walked a little farther away from the rest of his party, slowly getting closer to the solo person's hiding spot, and a little farther down the incline. He was only a few feet from the asphalt.
He kept moving towards a smashed SUV that had driven off the overpass above them, edging closer to the solo individual as he acted like his attention was on the other three moving steadily closer. They were only fifty yards away at this point, and he was only twenty feet from the concrete divider where the person being tracked was hiding.
Gripping his axe, he suddenly burst out from behind the SUV and quickly covered the twenty feet, hurdling over the divider right in front of the individual. They had been crawling and suddenly found themselves very, very prone in front of Clay and his axe. What he wasn't prepared for was for it to be a young Beastmen woman in her early twenties. He had his axe raised to strike.
"Clay! Here they come!" Jill yelled from the other lane of the highway that he had just come from. "They're charging us!"
He looked at the woman, he couldn't tell exactly what kind of animal had bitten her but by the looks of her eyes as she whimpered, "Please!" In such a pitiful tone. He looked at the three running figures moving at a full run towards them.
"Damn it!" He said as he grabbed the back of the woman's jacket and physically hoisted her into the air. He wasn't too gentle about it and he quickly sat down on the divider and crossed back over. "Jill, take her and make sure she doesn't cause any problems." He only barely let her feet touch the ground before he shoved the young woman towards Jill with enough force to propel her nearly to her.
That's when he realized his rib wasn't hurting anymore. He hefted his axe and within three large strides, was out from under the overpass and in the cold steady rain. He could see the three other people coming at them and his long legs carried him quickly to the first target. As he neared it stepped onto a car bumper and leaped at Clay a cheap two-foot knife extended in front of the person to try to stab Clay.
He pulled his buck knife out of its sheath at his waist and without the slightest hesitation drove it into what he could see now was a male Beastmen's temple and jerked it out. He easily dodged the man's body as it hit the ground.
Clay swung his axe as he turned to the second Beastmen that managed to dodge, sliding under his axe swing and managed to swipe at Clay's side with its knife. He barely turned in time for it to miss anything vital. But it cut his jacket. "She's ours!" Yelled the Beastmen as it swung at him again. He saw the knife in one hand, and as the man quickly stopped his momentum and came back at Clay hold up its hand and its fucking claws grew two inches!
The man came back at Clay, swinging his claws and then the knife. As the man attacked him though Clay stepped inside the man's slash with the knife and smashed his forehead into the man's nose. He felt the knife graze him, cutting through his jacket and shirt. Thankfully it only scratched his left shoulder. The blow only dazed the Beastmen as he tried to scratch him with his claws. Clay slammed his knife upwards into the man's sternum and into his heart. He roughly jerked the knife sideways into his lung just to make sure and let the man drop to the asphalt.
He heard a yell from back at camp. It was Jill.
He rushed back thinking the worst had happened or was happening. As he got closer though he could see it was Jill and Dawn trying to restrain the woman he had told Jill to keep an eye on. And now she was covered in blood!
"Let me go!" Came the young woman's shrill scream. "I'll fucking kill him!" Surprisingly it looked like it was taking everything Jill and Dawn had to restrain her even though she was much smaller than either of them.
"Calm down!" Dawn was saying. "He's not going anywhere."
"Be quiet, your going to attract other fucking things that are much worse!" Jill said. Both of the women held an arm and the young woman's feet kicked at the ground as Clay came back into camp. He could tell for sure she had been attacked by a cat. He walked up, taking in the scene.
He spotted the Beastmen face down on the ground, in a pool of blood, a piece of bloody concrete lying nearby. Clay bent down and checked the bulldog-looking man for a pulse. Finding one, he looked at Tonya who was shaking nervously but holding her knife on him. "Tie him up." He told her. "And search him." He added as he reached over and took the loaded revolver out of a side holster hidden under his trench coat.
He looked at the woman who was still struggling, trying to get loose but much quieter about it. He stood and took two quick steps to be in front of the woman but still outside of the reach of those legs. He didn't need to be kicked. "And you brought them right to us. You've been watching us since yesterday, haven't you?"
The woman stopped struggling immediately and tried to make herself smaller. She was speaking in another language? Her look changed to what Clay would call a cornered animal.
Finally, she managed a meek, "Yes, yes, just please don't kill me, sir! Please!" She suddenly fell to her knees. "Please, I just want to be safe, like you." She looked right at Jill tears streaming down her cheeks.
Clay looked to Jill, and the look she gave him spoke volumes, most of which he sympathized with. "What's your name?" He asked, trying to soften his tone. He heard groaning and turned to see Amy helping Luke as he tried to make his way to the fire. He looked back at the young woman.
"Sigrid Reicman, sir. Please, I'll be useful, I promise. Just let me join your group?" She began to plead, breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.
He narrowed his eyes and started to shake his head when Tonya touched his arm, she had stood from tying the other Beastmen up and walked up next to him.
He looked over at her and she slightly shook her head and closed her eyes, "Let her be, Clay." She said softly.
He glowered at her and then at Jill as she added her consent to the woman joining them. He audibly growled as he said, "I'm not fucking babysitting. Anyone!" He looked to the south and back at the rest of them.
He had been kind, but how much could he afford to be kind now? There was no government, no laws, he had personally watched people he had known before the apocalypse become morally corrupt. He knew how fucking bad everything was, and he couldn't contain it anymore. "Fucking, fuck!" He yelled.
He took in a deep breath, feeling the brisk, damp air filling his lungs. He let it out slowly before he spoke. His voice was deathly calm and even as he said his next words. "From now on, I want to make something very clear. I'm going home. If you stay with me from here on, you either listen, or I'll fucking leave you behind. I never fucking agreed to help anyone to begin with!"
"Now..." He clenched his jaw reigning in his anger at how fucked everything was. "The rain will probably stop in a few hours. I'd suggest everyone be ready to go by then." He hefted his axe on his shoulder and started to stride away, out into the steady rain.
"Where are you going?" Jill called as he stepped out into the rain. Worry is evident in her voice.
He didn't look back as he replied, "To find some fucking supplies. We're obviously going to need them." With that, he left them with their thoughts. He wasn't a cruel person, but he had come to realize something yesterday while he was straddling the fucking giant ass mutated bear.
Of everyone left in the group, he knew he was the only one with any realistic survival experience. He'd definitely be having to work overtime if they didn't start figuring things out for themselves soon. And he didn't know how long he could manage that. However, thinking about Jill, and Tonya being turned away from the shelter and knowing that he wouldn't complain or consider either of them a burden, he couldn't.
He would do his best to prevent anything bad happening to either woman, and the thought of trying to decide between them twisted him inside. He made it to the first dead Beastmen and searched it, he found some supplies for a day or so, two bottles of water. He placed them in his spatial storage and the same for the other. That Beastmen had two bags of jerky which he put away in his spatial storage too.
He worked his way along the highway until he spotted a gas station sign off the interstate. He could see it over the tree line that wasn't that far away. After about thirty minutes he made it through the trees and could see the gas station and the pumps from his vantage point.
He observed the gas station for a few minutes, he could see an idle zombie wandering around the inside of the station. Several others mulled about in the vehicles outside. He could see an ambulance on the other side of the building. He gripped his axe and made his way to the door of the building. The zombie inside still hadn't noticed him as he got near. But Clay knew that would charge as soon as he opened the door. And so would any others inside.
He mentally psyched himself up for a fight. He'd seen too many zombie lords to not factor in there could be one anywhere there were zombies. He pushed the door inwards.
As soon as it opened, the zombie, wearing a red-striped gas attendant uniform ran at him, growling like a wild beast. He swung his axe, catching it cleanly in its neck, dropping it instantly as two more rushed forward from the back of the store. He charged the one on the left.
