Apocalypse unleashed a l.., p.5
Apocalypse Unleashed: A LitRPG Adventure, page 5
He repeated this process two more times. Four meter sticks were glued together, but that wasn’t enough. Soon, Scotch-tape bound the entirety of the makeshift club.
Aiden looked at it with jealousy as Adam finished making a Scotch-tape grip. The rest of the class hadn’t been idle either. Many people had taken the scissors and sharpened the metal rods as much as possible, some holding on to three or four of the things.
Others practiced swinging the wooden boards without throwing them. They finally found a screwdriver in a far drawer and used it to unscrew the remains of the metal legs that had been broken off.
The silence in the room carried a heavy presence, a guillotine lingering over their heads. Any whispered words received reprimanding glares from others. Nobody wanted this. They threw themselves into the work with desperate abandon, doing whatever they could to maybe survive the next few hours.
They looked for anything to loop through the holes in the desks but eventually decided to just use their shirt sleeves. The shields were long, covering the whole arm. The two sets of cloth bindings made sure they were easily maneuverable, one clinging to the crease near the elbow and the other in a closed fist.
Aiden considered finding himself another weapon, but his Pen had already consumed one Essence Orb. He felt committed to it, thinking of it like a knife or dagger.
Since he didn’t have to worry about a weapon, he focused on tearing a bunch of textbooks in half. He stuffed them into the rim of his pants and tucked in his shirt over them, tightening his belt as far as it would go.
That would keep his sides and stomach protected, but he really wanted a way to protect his shoulders and neck. Searching for anything remotely conforming was futile and ended up being a big waste of time.
Long ago, the sound of banging on the door had gone silent. That didn’t make Aiden feel any better. He knew for a fact that outside those doors, at least two groups of those monsters were waiting.
He grunted as he looked at his watch. Long ago? It felt like it, but it was only now eight fifteen.
He couldn’t let himself get caught up in the anxiety that threatened to claim any will to fight back. The image he’d seen haunted his every action, making him wonder if it was all futile.
Several times, the other classmates approached to talk to him. Aiden didn’t know why, and it only stressed him out further. When they approached, they did so hopefully. A light shined in their eyes and they moved a little faster, but Olivia did well in steering them off.
She shared his reserved reticence. Other people? They were worried about surviving themselves.
And truthfully, they were hesitant to arm potential competition. Awful? Yes. Unreasonable? Only time would tell.
Aiden never stopped working, doing his best to make two desk legs as sharp as possible, stuffing some book armor loosely in the lining of Olivia’s pants. His sister didn’t wear a belt today, so he tied her shirt behind her back to add as much tension as he could.
Her baggy hoodie covered it all well. He found some rubber bands and rolled the excess in the back into a tight ball. With a snap of the band, he secured it in place. He didn’t want her getting caught on anything or tripping over the knee-length hoodie.
And they would be venturing out.
Soon, too.
Everyone was in different states of preparedness, but time waited for no one—well, maybe now it did, but most certainly not for anyone here.
The worst part about the whole thing? The thing that caused him unbelievable levels of worry?
There was no way to know what state the rest of the school was in. The students attempted to use their cellphones, but none of them had any connection. If Aiden had to guess, the whole school had become a dead zone.
Because their school had three thousand or so students, he didn’t feel great about their chances of making it out. Reasonably, it meant more potential allies, but that didn’t make him feel any better. Instead of seeing those numbers as a boon, he saw them as monster fodder.
If they panicked like his old class—which was definitely going to happen—then they would be the oil on a raging flame. The walls would assimilate them, and that bonfire would become a wildfire set to raze everything for miles.
For years, everyone had made jokes about the zombie apocalypse, but now that something even worse was upon them, Aiden could only look back on those memories bitterly. Thinking of all the faces of his friends that he would probably never see again, he turned to Olivia for comfort.
She saw his distress and grabbed his hand. “Ai, we’ll make it through this. I believe in you. More importantly, I believe in us!”
He nodded, “Right. It’s just a lot to take in. Speaking of, you’re holding up pretty well.”
Her face blanked for a brief second before giving him a much too forced smile. “I—I’m okay.”
Obviously she was not okay, but there was little to be done. He could only silently comfort her, words failing him. They stayed like that for several minutes, the rest of the class giving them a wide berth.
Out of everyone, they had the most experience.
Aiden appraised Adam. The other guy was crafty and charismatic, but he hadn’t fought yet. He hadn’t seen the halls of ink, hadn’t experienced the Orrery or the Essence Map.
Pity welled in his chest for Adam. Out of all the others here, Aiden felt like Adam would survive. But at what cost?
Only time would tell.
And the time was now eight fifty.
Releasing Olivia’s hand, he walked to the front of the room and looked over all the others. “Adam, are they almost finished? It’s ten minutes ‘til.”
“Finishing up now. Give us just a sec’.” He was helping a girl tie her shirt with bits of textbook padding all around her, similar to the way Aiden had done for Olivia.
A guy stood next to Adam, his hands shaking as he adjusted his belt. Noticing, Adam finished what he was doing with the girl and turned to him, helping to tighten the belt. Once they were finished, Adam put a hand on the other guy’s shoulder and started soothing him.
Admittedly, Adam did have a very calming voice. It carried when he spoke, commanding respect and attention. It added subtle importance to what he said, even if what he said was completely meaningless.
Aiden couldn’t help but check his watch impatiently. He wanted to establish a battle strategy before they just rushed out there and got lashed into oblivion by the paralytic tongues. With how many of those monsters waited for them, there was a high chance for exactly that to happen either way.
Looking around at the preparation they’d done, Aiden could only hope it mattered.
Adam gave him a thumbs-up and gestured for the other students to come closer. Sprawled out, it looked like they had more fighting power with the amount of destruction and makeshifting they’d done.
But in reality, they numbered fifteen.
Fifteen students armed with sharp desk legs with wooden desks as shields and textbooks for armor.
Only one other person wielded a similar weapon to Adam. Her club—if it could be called that—was made of yardsticks. Adam had monopolized the meter sticks, but they’d both turned out decently.
“Before we start, does anybody want to introduce themselves?” Adam asked the room. Everyone looked back at him like he was stupid. “Okay, that’s fair.”
7
NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED
Aiden definitely didn’t want to get attached to anybody else here. It was truly awful to say, and he hated to think it, but he wouldn’t trade his life for anybody there that wasn’t Olivia. He most assuredly wouldn’t risk her life to save any of them.
It was horrid, and he felt crappy for it, but that was the truth. Getting to know them more personally would make things more…
Personal.
He’d already seen his classmates get turned into crazy monsters—he’d killed one of them already—so he was better off not getting to know them.
And he imagined they shared a similar feeling.
The stragglers or less confident would probably try to stick to him or Adam, their best hope for survival if they weren’t willing to fend for themselves. He’d already taken down two of the monsters in front of them, so he imagined they saw him as competent despite his average frame.
And then there was Adam. At some point, he had been unanimously and silently declared pseudo leader amongst the class. It seemed natural enough.
“There’s fifteen of us here. We should group into teams of three or five—”
“Wh-why do we have to split?” the guy Adam had helped last asked. “Shouldn’t we stay together? Fight together? It’s like they say, strength in numbers.”
Adam looked over at Aiden and chewed on his lip. Indecision warred in his eyes, and a flicker of annoyance flashed across his features.
Aiden answered for him. “It’s simple, really. If you have a small party, you know that someone’s got your back. Not only that, if your party kills something, you’ll split the Orbs. We want everyone to grow stronger together, and we can’t do that if the entire group is fighting over who gets what.”
“We wouldn’t—”
“We all would if things weren’t predetermined. I know the power the Orbs have to offer!” His nerves couldn’t take anymore. Waiting around wasn’t good for his restless anxiety. He clenched his fist as he stared at the protester. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know. Every single one of you, once you know how much those Orbs are worth, will trade the person next to you to get a few more. I’m one hundred percent convinced of this,” Aiden snapped back.
“Ai!” Olivia shouted, bringing him back to his senses.
At some point, he’d stepped forward and grabbed the protester by the shirt. Aiden stepped back, closing his eyes, and took a deep breath. Opening them, he nodded at the protester.
But he meant what he’d said.
“Adam, please continue,” Olivia prompted softly.
Adam opened his mouth and reached to comfort Aiden but quickly retracted his hand when Aiden stared back at him coldly. In an attempt to recover from the awkward exchange, Adam instead brushed his hand through his hair, looking away.
Addressing the other dozen students, Adam continued. “Teams of three. If your party kills it, you’re responsible for distributing it. Watch each other’s backs. These things are literally popping out of the walls. From what Aiden has experienced, these monsters are fairly fragile. Use what we’ve got to the best of your ability and follow the front of the formation.”
The protester raised his hand and started rapid-firing questions when Adam raised a brow in his direction.
“Who will be in the front of the formation? That doesn’t seem fair. Won’t they get the most loot? Also, the back of the formation? Won’t they be in the most danger or get no loot at all? Like—”
Adam held up his hand to stop the flow of anxiety-driven questioning and rubbed his brows. “I will lead with Aiden and his sister. More than likely, yes, that means we’ll get the most loot. However,” he cut off an oncoming flurry of protests from the guy. At this point, Aiden was past talking to him. It seemed like he just wanted free Orbs without putting himself at risk.
In Aiden’s eyes, that made him a leech. That was to be expected from some people, but the way he was so overt about it ruffled Aiden’s feathers. He resisted the urge to reply scathingly.
Adam continued. “We’ll be facing the most risk, so getting more loot will do well in keeping us—and everyone else—alive. Think of us all as a group with small teams. Like the army. They have divisions, then companies, and then platoons. We’re all a part of something bigger.”
“Yeah, the teams are like the platoons, the companies are like the classes, and the school is like the division. We have to work together and watch each others’ backs!” Olivia gave her signature beaming smile, and the whole dreary mood Aiden had caused lightened a bit.
Everyone started mingling into groups.
While they did that, Aiden acquired two bags for himself and Olivia, dumping all the useless contents onto the ground. They both made sure to get one that dangled on the hip. It would make it easier for them to collect Essence Orbs.
The whole thing took far longer than Aiden was comfortable with, but he also didn’t have to form his party. Olivia was a no-brainer, and Adam had already volunteered himself for the second spot.
They’d already surpassed their deadline by ten minutes by the time they all formed up into groups. They were in a long, single-file line to make it easier to exit the door quickly without any chance of someone getting stuck.
Nine fourteen.
In less than sixty seconds, he’d be beyond the door fighting again. Those precious few seconds ticked by ever so slowly. The adrenaline that had faded with time came coursing back through his veins as the realization of an imminent threat sunk in.
And then the last person in line went up to the front, the protester fellow, and hesitantly opened the door. Adam pushed it aside and rushed forward into the hallway, peeling left. Aiden instantly followed with Olivia close behind.
Sure enough, the inky hallway hadn’t changed much. It clung to the legs and hampered movement, but that didn’t matter much when they were rushing toward the horde of rotund monsters.
Aiden didn’t think, didn’t allow them to get the drop on him with a moment of hesitation, and lunged forward with his pen outstretched. A second after his pen punctured the membranous layer of monster skin, Adam’s meter stick amalgamation clubbed the next one over the head.
A cacophony of cackling and keening filled the hall as the little monsters were alerted of their presence. Their tongues flicked about wildly, lashing forward.
Two were headed for Aiden. He moved to dodge, but he’d reacted too slowly. Olivia slapped one away, but the other slammed into his side.
And did nothing.
Realizing that he could move just fine, he grinned viciously and leaped forward. He still had to be careful, but knowing that his defenses worked alright, he was less worried.
It occurred to him moments later, but his Durability Node probably had something to do with the ineffective attack. He grinned even wider at that. His Pen blurred as he stabbed, Adam and Olivia covering his sides.
Crack, crack, crunch! Adam’s meter stick rendered the tongues useless, abusing his severely farther reach to demolish the monsters.
Schlick, shink, schlink! Olivia’s sharpened table legs, one in each hand, were terrors in her hands. They stabbed forward repeatedly, blurring. Her Alacrity paid off, and she kept her attacks simple.
Aiden did the same. He didn’t know if his Durability was the reason the tongues were ineffective, so he wanted to confirm. When the next tongue flew by him, he grabbed it barehanded. Only a slight tingling sensation ran up his arm. Otherwise, he was completely paralysis-free.
He wrenched the monster toward him. Stab! The monster fell under his flurry of swift attacks, his Pen light and deadly in his hands.
Sweeping the fallen Orbs from the ground with the bag, careful not to touch them in fear of causing a system prompt to appear, he collected their reward. An Orb that wasn’t his was within arm’s reach, and he wanted it.
Truly, he felt the urge to reach for it, to take it while everyone else was too busy to notice, but he didn’t. Together with his team, they’d reaped the lion’s share of the fight, just as expected.
His quick count when he’d exited had been thirteen in front and eight to the rear. Out of all of those, his team had taken down seven total. Fourteen milky, marble-sized Orbs gleamed back at him, but he heard the fighting continuing behind him.
The way forth to the main hallway was now clear. However, the groups fighting at the rear still struggled, despite having more fighters.
Eyes hungry for further gains, Aiden rushed forward to stab a monster seconds from chomping down on another student. Paralyzed by fear, they watched as it moved ever closer.
Then he was there, stabbing repeatedly. The familiar feeling of his Pen piercing monstrous skin excited him. He shoved the frozen person back to safety before scooping up the two Orbs into the bag with the rest.
But his split attention had consequences.
Aiden watched as another tongue wrapped around a second frozen student. He squealed in fear as it gripped their legs. He went down immediately, slamming hard against the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Aiden knew how strong that paralytic was, the instantaneous effect it had.
The panic in his eyes, the snot caking his mouth, and the tears flowing down his face as he got dragged back into the mass of shadows…
It all got to Aiden, causing him to hesitate just a second too long.
By the time he reached forward to help, the shadowy darkness had already claimed the other guy. The monster’s gaping gullet smacked, widening into a wicked grin as a new monster rose up from the ground.
Aiden clenched his fist, turning away from the monster to see Adam staring back at him.
“Why didn’t you—”
“He was already lost.”
“You didn’t even try!”
“He. Was. Already. Gone.” Aiden grit his teeth, trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince Adam. Turning back, he leaped forward. His Pen showed no mercy. Two more Orbs were collected, and he kept his forward momentum.
There were only three left. Despite being outnumbered, the remaining monsters grinned back at Aiden and Adam. Their mockery oozed from their gazes and upward-curling lips.
The two of them made short work of the trio, Olivia’s form blurring by him to claim another kill. She sank her sharpened poles into the monster that had dragged the student to the ground, tears flowing freely as she repeatedly stabbed it.
Adam claimed the next kill. His meter sticks creaked as they dealt righteous punishment for the sins of the monsters. He stepped past, putting the entirety of his weight behind his next attack. Like a bubble, the monster popped under his brutality.
