June 13, 2025; They hurriedly gathered up their supplies and quickly set off down the highway. By 9 AM they had entered and passed through Pontiac. The town was completely deserted and Clay took the opportunity to scavenge for some jerky and other supplies. Surprisingly the town looked like it had been evacuated before things got too bad and they easily restocked their supplies as they went through.

  Just as they made it through Pontiac Illinois Clay heard a low roar coming from the south and as they looked, a large missile arced overhead, flames billowing out of the engines as it consumed unfathomable amounts of fuel hurdling towards its target. Chicago was only visible at the very edge of the horizon as a mass of grey with taller shiny spires sticking up in the thick blue-green fog.

  "Don't look at it!" He yelled as he turned away. "Run!" Something that big had to be an ICBM. He didn't know what the blast radius would be, but he wanted to be as far away from the fucking thing when it exploded.

  "Oh my God!" Dawn screamed. Luke picked her up as she stopped to look back, scooping her up on his shoulder as he ran as fast as he could. He was surprisingly ahead of Clay, Jill, and Tonya as they ran as fast as they could through about a foot of snow.

  It was wind-packed snow though, so they easily traveled across the top of it farther and farther away. He couldn't hear the roar from the ICBM engines anymore and he felt the impact as it exploded.

  The ground seemed to jump underneath them and Clay hit the ground hard. So did everyone else. The flash temporarily blinded him and even though they were a long way from Chicago, Clay still felt the heat of the blast.

  The snow melted so quickly near them the ground was steaming as Clay tried to scramble up. He was covered in mud from head to toe and as he glanced over his shoulder he could see a large triple mushroom cloud extending thousands of feet into the atmosphere.

  Behind them, about twenty miles or so, was the edge of a steaming, smoking shallow crater. Where Chicago had been was a raging inferno, two large masses writhed on the ground smashing what remained of nearby buildings.

  "Fuck!" He said as he got stood up again, he'd hit the ground hard.

  "That was one of ours." Tonya said wiping mud off her face. "What the hell are we doing nuking our fucking selves!" She screamed.

  "Look." Jill said, pointing at the two massive, writhing bodies. One managed to stand and take a step.

  "No fucking way..." Tonya said.

  The beast managed to take three more steps as it let out a loud, low, long roar that Clay could feel in his very soul, like a primal cry that made him instinctively want to flee.

  "Keep running!" He said as he turned them around and started off as fast as they could manage. Luke and Dawn had recovered and were right on his heels as they made it back onto the highway running as fast as they could southwest. He could see snow again in the distance but right now he was sweating, but he didn't dare stop to shed a layer.

  He could still hear the creature that survived roaring, as it made its way south, in their direction. Every step it took covered more ground than they could run in the same amount of time. It was getting closer.

  They ran. Clay's lungs burned and he didn't care. They had to get as far away from that thing and whatever the military sent next.

  Because he didn't know what was bigger than an ICBM except maybe a bigger fucking nuke! And he definitely didn't want to be anywhere near that thing when they dropped it.

  So he ran, and surprisingly he didn't have to keep urging the others on. By the looks of their faces, they felt the same visceral need to get farther away.

  Two hours later they finally hit snow again, but there was much less of it. He could see the city limits sign for Normal Illinois. He knew it would turn into Bloomington.

  He was about to call for them to take a break behind a short red-brick building that was one of the first they had run into as they got into the actual city. The houses on this side of the city were heavily fire-damaged and there were only a handful still standing, their black, scorched timber dusted with snow made an eerily surreal scene as they ran through.

  "We need to keep going." Clay managed as he caught his breath. His fucking ribs hurt so much, he didn't know if he could manage much further.

  And then he was blinded as everything flashed. Almost instantly an invisible pressure wave hit them, the wall and pieces of debris-covered them as they were thrown to the ground. A loud screaming sound of superheated air rushing back the other way rushed past only a moment later.

  His ears rang. He was blind, trying to blink vision back into his eyes as he vaguely made out muffled screaming. He was on top of someone but he couldn't tell who. He tried to raise up, but was wedged on something. "Come the fuck on!" He yelled as the heat seemed to take his breath. He couldn't even hear his own words.

  It took several minutes before he could hear, and he was pretty sure shit was burning not far away from him. He was on top of Dawn of all people and it took several more minutes before either of them could see well enough to get his rucksack unstuck from a piece of metal. The piece of metal was stuck through the red brick wall that had been blown over on top of them. A dumpster and a now smashed Ford F-150 were all that kept it off of them.

  Tonya wasn't moving, but thankfully Jill soon was able to crawl over to her and check. "She's alive." Surprisingly she didn't sound pissed at her friend anymore, only worry sounded in her tone. "She's banged up pretty bad, but she's not bleeding that I can see."

  "Okay, Luke, grab her and you three make your way out over there if you can. The wall isn't stable, we need to get out from under it." Clay said. He made his way out, following Dawn. He has to admit she had nice assets, he could see why Luke liked her so much. Though it was weird they never slept under the same blankets.

  As they made their way out from under the collapsed wall. Clay immediately noticed large areas of rubble that had been a city only ten minutes prior now burning. The smell was indescribable as pillars of black smoke billowed into the darkening grey sky. "We need to keep going. We can't stay here."

  They moved on as fast as they could manage. It was well into the night by the time they staggered into ground coated with a thin layer of snow instead of the muck and slush they had been moving through as they made their way away from the blast radius of the heat.

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  They hadn't said much. Luke had handed Tonya off to Clay as soon as they had made it out from under the wall. And he had packed her the entire way. He was past exhausted but kept putting one foot in front of the other.

  Finally, he could see houses grow more numerous. It was almost daylight and he made out a city limits sign just ahead. It read Lincoln Illinois. Clay made it to the other side of the city, going around the outskirts to avoid any zombies. He found a deserted house and after making sure it was clear. Passed out cold.

  * * *

  "Hey, little brother!" Jake yelled as Clay found himself suddenly airborne before he hit the ground so hard it knocked the breath out of him. "Come on, we need to get in the stand before daylight."

  He groaned as he rolled over onto his knees and raised up on his bed, shooting his brother a glare as he laughed at the look on Clay's face before disappearing down the hallway towards the kitchen. "I have breakfast ready, let's go! Imma get a bigger buck than last year I can feel it." He could tell his brother was extremely excited about going hunting.

  Wait, he was sleeping. He remembered this day. Everything that had happened since that weird dream where he had become a Sovereign and been given a system seed came flooding back into his mind and he felt a headache coming on.

  He dressed, making sure he layered with thermal underwear, it wasn't going to get above 10 Fahrenheit with the win chill putting it closer to 2 or 3. And they were going to be up in the air. Layers were the only way.

  By the time he got downstairs and ate his breakfast, Jake had their guncases set out by the door waiting on them. Clay quickly finished, his brother impatient just like he had been so many years ago.

  "Okay, I'm sorry Jake but I can't do this right now." Clay said stopping at the door. Jake came back to the doorway, a worried expression on his face.

  "What do you mean, little brother?" Jake asked Clay. Worry evident on his face.

  "I mean, I can't do this right now." Clay took a deep breath. He didn't care this was a dream. He had real issues to deal with in the real world. So why the fuck was he dreaming about a day that happened over twenty years ago?

  "Oh, you mean those two nukes you just survived?" Jake asked looking right at him with a smirk on his freckled face. "Yeah, I'd definitely be worried about my boys and how well things will be swimming if I were you, little brother. But we both know that's not what your problem is."

  Clay let out a groan.

  "Come on. You can talk to me, Clay." Jake said motioning around at the darkened yard around Mom and Dad's house. "The issue isn't the nukes. Be honest."

  His shoulders drooped as he shrugged. "I don't know what to do." Clay finally said. "I think I have inadvertently developed feelings for two women. And they're friends. And I don't know what to do..." Clay said after a long pause shaking his head.

  Jake stared at him for a moment and then whistled. "Holy shit little brother, you mean you, the conservative one of all of us kids, fell in love with two women? And their friends on top of it?" Jake shook his head. "That's not a good way to have a long life little brother." He gave him a smirk.

  "It's not like I've committed to anything yet with either of them." Clay said.

  "Maybe not. But you can't hide your feelings from me Clay, I'm your brother. You wouldn't be having this discussion, with me, your dead brother no less, unless you couldn't find a solution." Jake shook his head.

  "Well, the problem is I don't know how to deal with it. Somehow I've fucked up and now both of them are fucking interested in me. Fuck, I mean one of them just asked me if I'd be her prince right in front of the other! I seriously thought there was going to be a damn fight but we had to run and..."

  Jake just looked at him. Then let out a laugh that Clay hadn't heard in years. After he recovered he said, "And how might I ask, can you fix a woman's heart Clay?" He shook his head. "That's not for you to decide, you can only influence it. And fortunately for my entertainment, you're stuck in the good guy mode so you are either getting friend-zoned or inadvertently becoming that prince she was talking about." He shrugged.

  "But what do I do?" Clay asked, still at a loss.

  "Well, you have a ways to go yet before you make it home. Why don't you just postpone it until you make it there, and then you can make a decision." He shrugged. "I mean two nukes, and did you see the fucking thing?" Clay knew it was a rhetorical question, Jake was dead and Clay had seen the fucking thing get back up after getting hit by one of the most powerful weapons in mankind's arsenal and it took it and kept going. "You might not have to choose. It's not going to be an easy trip. Hell you or them could die at any moment. Tell them you all need time to think about everything and you'll give them your answer once you make it home."

  He stopped and squinted at Clay. Then added, "But don't be stupid about it little brother. Don't be the one that brings it up or you'll for sure have both of them on your ass. And you said they're friends right?" As Clay nodded, Jake continued, "Then wait until they're arguing about it before you drop that bomb. It'll give you some time to figure things out in that peanut-sized brain of yours." Jake laughed. "Now can we go shoot a dear, I'm tired of hearing about your girlfriend's problems."

  * * *

  "Clay! Wake up. Clay." Jill said as he tried to crawl his way out of sleep, his eyes were matted shut and he tried to wipe them clean as he forced himself awake.

  "What's wrong?" He asked, still struggling, he was well past exhausted.

  "I think we need to leave." She said urgently.

  "What?" He finally managed to look at her through stinging red eyes.

  "Here, let me show you." She quietly stood and went to a window and stood to the side of it looking East towards the still burning crater. As he stood beside her he didn't see it at first. But then it moved. Fast! And it was big. He heard "Thud, Thud. Thud." As whatever it was hopped around like it wasn't as big as a fucking aircraft carrier.

  "Get everyone awake." He didn't have to say anymore. The beast was digging in houses and rubble, which can only mean one thing. Clay's party was on the menu, and he didn't want to wait to be served. The creature picked one screaming man up it dragged him out of a house kicking and thrashing as the beast popped him in its mouth.

  "DING! System Bonus Quest activated. The host must survive the rampaging ferret. Time remaining: four hours and fifty-nine minutes. If completed, the host will be able to select from the following Abilities or Skills. Mind Lance. Evasion. Infravision. Chameleon. Dark Bolt." Kris said.

  "Damn! Five fucking hours of dodging that thing!" He said to himself. "Well, I wasn't planning on letting it catch me anyway."

  Five minutes later they watched in horror as a flood of people rushed out of a cellar scattering everywhere as they ran. Daylight popped over the horizon just in time to illuminate the beast. It was a ferret. It pounced around as it scarfed up a person here and popped in its mouth. Then hopped there for another one.

  Clay's party ran as soon as they saw everyone come out of the cellar and scatter. Some solo people passed them as they fled. An orc man holding hands with a woman with golden halos around her eyes was keeping pace with his group. The Orcs eyes grew wide and he yelled at everyone, "Get down!"

  Everyone in Clay's group saw what he was yelling for though and hit the ground, just as he heard dozens of massive booms. His ears rang they were being fired so close he was almost stunned. He quickly recovered though and started pulling people up and shoving them away from what had turned into a wall of Abrams and Bradley fighting vehicles. He could hear multiple bushmasters lighting the ferret up before another volley from the tanks was thrown at it too.

  He could see infantry taking positions as they ran through the chaos that erupted around them. The ferret hopped over to the line of tanks and casually picked one up and shook it like a toy, then tossed it into another one. The entire time it continued to take fire. Sometimes a tank round looked like it did something as it would let out a roar and keep fighting. It was bleeding but continued to hop around and wreck the battle line the army had established.

  They had made it about fifty yards when the first Abrams crashed into another tank just off to their right as they fled south, parallel to the battle line of the army, or as Clay could see, the Illinois National Guard at this point. The explosion knocked him and everyone else onto their ass that was nearby.

  "Fuck!" He cursed as he regained his footing and helped Jill and Tonya up and trudged onward, trying to get as far away as fast as possible as the sky got a little brighter. It never got past the dingy grey. The news reports said it could take years before the micro dust particles that were floating in the atmosphere would settle and allow more sunlight in. He was starting to miss the sun. You could see it through the grey haze. Just you couldn't feel it.

  A soldier rushed forward and kneeled, placing a Javelin on his shoulder and firing. He could hear the explosions and screaming as they finally made it out of the area around noon. A few survivors like them trickled through. But not many.

  Nearby he found Dawn and Luke with the male Orc and Saint woman. They were resting in a small crater. The sound of the battle in the distance was still loud. "Hey Luke, we're going to keep going. If they hit that thing..." He yelled over the sounds of battle. He left the rest unsaid. Nobody wanted to tempt luck a third time.

  "We're right behind you Mr Clay." He stood, causing Dawn to stand with him. They shouldered their packs and turned to leave. That's when the other man spoke up, the Orc.

  "You all traveling together? And no problems?" The Orc asked as if he was having trouble talking due to the bottom tusks that had grown out of his jaw. It had to be tough to talk. He wondered why Tonya's were much less prominent.

  "Pretty much." He heard Luke say as they walked along with them. "Mr Clay let us come along with him so far. And if we hadn't, we'd be dead right now." He pointed back towards Chicago's ruins.

  "Where y'all headed?" Asked the woman, a distinct southern draw evident in her voice, if Clay had to pick a state he'd say she sounded like a Georgia peach.

  Everyone looked at Clay so he told them, "Missouri. Home."

  He kept putting one foot in front of the other. Kept pushing to get farther and farther away. He had to get home. He focused on the golden orb and as the status screen popped up he could see the time for the bonus quest to be completed still read thirty-eight minutes remaining. Another loud explosion nearby made them all duck as pieces of shrapnel and dirt flew everywhere.

  He heard people moaning as the Bradley that got hit by the turret of an Abrams back hatch opened. Several soldiers rushed out, one was left inside the burning Bradley. It looked like they were running away. That's when he heard a single low jet. As he looked up he immediately identified the jet as a Warthog.

  "Help me! Please, somebody, I'm stuck." Came a muffled cry from the Bradley. He should keep going. He knew that. But he couldn't. His conscious told him that if he didn't try to help, then he would ask himself if he could have done something for the rest of his life.