Deaths beating heart, p.16
Surviving the Ashlands 2: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG Adventure Book Two, page 16
The man slowly bobbed his head.
Quest Received: America’s Soldiers: Go with Colonel Whitmore to find a small band of soldiers and reintegrate them with the American Remnant
I saw the notification appear. Two birds, one stone.
“Take some time to settle in, we’ll head out first thing tomorrow.” I gave the man a smile.
===
I settled into the hot water bath I had just prepared, letting out a sigh of relief. It had been over a week since I had any time to myself, and I planned to savor the evening. I had asked Sophia to close down the bathhouse for me, and she gladly agreed to give me a couple of hours alone. As I closed my eyes, the warmth enveloped me, and I felt my muscles begin to relax.
After a short time, I heard light footsteps approaching, and my mood shifted slightly. Sophia had promised I would not be disturbed. I let out a low, disappointed sigh.
“If that’s how you feel, I can leave you alone,” Valerie’s voice met my ears, and I perked up at the sound.
I opened my eyes and turned my head to see Valerie casually dressed and standing by the stall. “No, of course not. I just… didn’t realize…” I stumbled over my words.
Valerie chuckled softly, “Don’t worry. Sophia let me in.”
She winked, her flirty demeanor sparkling. “I was hoping we could start our night together here. I know you promised me a nice dinner first, but…”
Unable to help myself, I shifted in the tub, feeling a stir of excitement as I watched her seductively begin to undress. She paused at just the right moments, showcasing her curves. “You’re so cruel,” I managed to say, my voice strained with anticipation.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” she replied, her tone dripping with allure.
She tossed aside the last of her clothes, standing fully naked before me. My gaze traveled from her head to her toes and back again, captivated. “You cared for me one night, so let me take care of you tonight,” she said as she stepped closer.
I swallowed hard; it had been ages since something like this happened, and even the last time lacked the intensity of the moment unfolding before me.
A thrilling sense of promise washed over me; I sensed this night would be one of long, indulgent pleasure.
Chapter 17: Recruitment Drive
The sun crept through the window of my room. As I roused from my slumber, I felt the warmth of a body up against me. I let out a soft moan and slowly opened my eyes. Valerie’s naked body hugged up against my bare skin.
I adjusted my body and found my left arm had been wrapped around her stomach. I brought my arm up and caressed her breast. A soft moan escaped the woman’s lips. The night before had been an experience I had never expected. After Valerie assisted me in the bathroom, things took off from there leading us back to my room.
I soaked in the presence of Valerie as I laid there. This moment would have to end eventually, but I was going to savor every second I could. Seconds felt like hours as I laid there with her. It was surreal.
Valerie stirred and rolled to face me; her eyes still closed. Even with her disheveled look, there was some level of beauty which emanated from her. I pulled my arm away and scooted to the edge of the bed. I wanted more time to stay with her, but I had a long day ahead of me. Valerie had already agreed to come with me, but I was going to let her sleep a little bit longer before waking her up.
I quickly stood and dressed myself. I looked back at her still lying in bed. Part of me knew things would never be the same between us. We both knew going into last night, I just hoped with the terror of the wasteland we would be able to thrive together. I opened my door and stumbled over Hans. I let out a few expletives before bracing myself up against the wall in the hallway.
The dog looked over at me and stood up from the ground. I shook my head and pushed myself back off the wall. “Silly pup. You were guarding us weren’t you.”
The dog opened its mouth and panted. And again, I could have sworn I saw a smile on the dog's face for a brief moment. “Come on Hans let's go get food.”
I made my way down the stairs, Hans trailing behind me. I opened the cabinets and pulled out a few packages of food. I made sure to grab a can of meat for Hans. I opened the can and set it down for the dog. Just as I retracted my hand, Hans dug into the food. I chuckled lightly and patted the back of the Great Dane.
I opened the MRE and prepared the meal inside. I had gotten so used to not having normal food for each meal I did not care what was in the bag. This one happened to be a breakfast bag which contained eggs, crackers and some hot sauce. “My stomach's going to hate me later…” I said as I finished waiting for the food heat up.
Footsteps traversing above me alerted me to at least one other person being awake. I was still getting used to having Kendall in the house as well. As I was eating, footsteps down the stairs drew my attention and I saw Valerie coming down. “You didn't wake me up,” Valerie said as she hit the final step.
I shrugged. “I wanted to give you a little bit more time to sleep. We were up quite late last night.” I gave her a wink and gestured to the MRE on the table in front of me.
She gave me a neutral look; I couldn't tell if she wanted to make a comment or scold me on my actions. Valerie made her way over and sat down and began to prepare her food out of the MRE. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“Are you okay?” I asked cautiously.
Valerie looked up from the table, then shrugged, “Call me old fashioned, but I was hoping to wake up next to you this morning. It felt kind of wrong to wake up with you gone…after… well after what happened last night.”
I blinked a few times, processing what she said. It had not occurred to me she would have wanted to wake up with me. We had fallen asleep naked and to wake up in the same state alone, I understood. “I'm sorry Val… it didn’t even occur to me.”
She gave me a shy smile. “It's okay. You'll just make it up to me next time.” She gave me a wink.
I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes, she just did another one of her little tests on me. We quickly finished our meals and got ready for the day. Hans followed me around as I made my way to the different stops in the settlement.
I found Sophia in the kitchen and gave her an update on what was going on. While I wanted to take her with me, I needed her to stay here and continue training the militia. Just because Gage had been pushed back for now did not mean there were other threats out there ready to pounce.
I found Aiden in the garage ready to go, and I told him to load up into the flatbed Humvee, while I collected the other two who would be joining us. I found the colonel speaking with Valerie outside of the main house. The two shook hands before turning to face me. “Good to go?” the question directed at both.
“Yes,” Colonel Whitmore said as he adjusted the rifle strap on his shoulder.
Valerie gave me a smile. “Of course.”
I gestured for the two of them to follow me back to the garage. We found Aiden ready to go and sitting in the Humvee. I waved for him to get out of the vehicle. He did and then I began to explain the two main objectives of this mission.
“Two vehicles,” I said to the group. “If we are going to be picking up people, and loading in a new comms hub, we're going to need the space.”
Everyone gave me a nod. “Aiden, I want you and Valerie in one, Colonel you're with me.”
Quest Updated: New Hub: Make it to the location.
No one, not even the colonel, protested at my declaration. We loaded into the two vehicles, one of the flatbed Humvee, and one of the normal pickup trucks the raiders had left, and we had repurposed for our own use. With the number of additional fission cores from the other vehicles abandoned and left by the raiders, fuel was not as much of a scarce resource as it had been.
I had the Colonel drive, giving myself a chance to rest for once. It would take us quite a bit of time to get to the location. Mostly due to rubble or abandoned cars on the roads. I laid my rifle across my lap last day kernel started the engine of the Humvee and backed us out of the garage. We were off once again towards the North.
The drive had been mostly uneventful, we drove into a storm which only lasted about ten minutes. And I swore I saw a large bear walking with a small child down the side of one of the roads. I had to blink a few times to make sure it was real.
I had to remember the game had odd random encounters and this was one of them. The chances of us seeing it again were next to zero. However, I think it may have been hallucination since the colonel looked at me funny when I made a comment about the bear.
The rest of the drive went smoothly, and relatively quietly. Once we entered the outskirts of Lakewood, I started to notice the horrendous state of the city.
Location Unlocked: Lakewood One-Stop-Shop
Experience: 12
The outskirts fuel station of Lakewood.
Location Unlocked: Zelmo Electronics for Consumers
Experience: 12
I counted twelve different locations unlocking between the start of the city and Denver proper.
As I glared at the ruined streets of Denver, I tried to remember roughly where I was compared to the original game of Ashland: Reborn. Some of the buildings looked familiar, but there were more than I did not recognize from all my time played.
With the map being larger than the original game by factor of four, a lot of things were not in the game before it had been forcibly expanded and populated when it came to locations, buildings, and other natural or unnatural constructs.
The northern side of Castle Rock was my first major experience of this. now being in another major city, I realized I had not fully grasped the size of the world I was dealing with. We had to zigzag through the ruins, almost getting the vehicles stuck two separate times.
As I was checking my tacpad map, we found ourselves in thick fog. Thankfully, we arrived at our destination before the fog became too thick to drive through unhampered. Pulling up to the location, I realized the colonel had not been completely honest in his explanation about where these soldiers were holed up in.
Through the fog I saw a large building, it was formed from grey stone and had its age through the last three hundred years showing. And if I remembered correctly from my time in Ashland: Reborn, this was Denver Union Station. A railway hub which coordinated train activity for both commercial use and military use in the universe.
This was not some small hideaway a group would hunker down in without sustainable defenses. I tried to rack my brain about this location, and tried to remember any instance when the American Remnant storyline brought us here.
We pulled up just outside of the station. Rubble covered the stairs and the majority of the entrance. A small pathway had been excavated to the doors. As we dismounted from the vehicles, my eyes darted to our surroundings. “Should have brought a suit of power armor… Oh well.”
Ghuls, muites, Gunmen, and raiders all called Denver their homes, waring for territory. They were the known quantity; I was worried about the unknown. There were several research and experimental laboratories which tested animals, people, and flora, altering them into unrecognizable beings.
Many of those still lived here terrorizing and eating those who crossed into their territory.
In the game version of Ashland: Reborn, there were certain predetermined lines factions would not cross. But with those restrictions removed, I had a feeling there would be much more going on than what I would find in a normal play-through.
We made our way to the building.
Location Unlocked: Denver Union Station
Experience: 12
The Denver Union Station was active all the way up to the day the bombs fell. There are still several military supplies buried here.
“Shit, raiders,” Colonel Whitmore said as he gripped his rifle.
Valerie, Aiden, and I were crouched behind the colonel. The fog laid city, felt like a giant trap. I tapped the colonel’s shoulder. “If we are going to do this, we need to go fast and loud. If you catch them off guard, we should have the advantage, allowing us to free your men.”
The colonel turned around and gave me a sharp nod. I turned back to face the raiders; I took a breath and charged the group ahead of us. He let out a fellow in battle cry and began to open fire on the sentries. The three of us followed his lead, taking the raiders by surprise. The battle was brutal but quick.
Experience: 28
We were practically on the front steps of the station. “Come on we got to get inside, if there are raiders here that means either my guys are dead, or captured, hell even worse…” Colonel Whitmore said making his way up the remains of the stairs.
The three of us followed him in and through the doors, into a large area which looked mostly untouched apart from some new blood splatters. A dozen of raider bodies were lying on the ground, resting in their own pools of blood.
It looked like the American Remnant soldiers put up a fight. For now, we were alone, and everyone took a moment to make sure they had enough ammunition close by if we got into a firefight.
After everyone did their check, the colonel headed towards the back. We followed him, and my sixth sense started to kick in. This felt like a massive trap. After taking about thirty steps, the lights flickered off, and a deep rumbling laugh echoed through the station. “We've got you now,” A sardonically twisted voice said.
With just the small amount of light from the holes in the building, we struggled to see where our opponents were going to meet us. We heard footsteps running around and the sound of racking shotguns echoed through the chamber.
I took a step over to Valerie and leaned into her ear. “When I say, hit the deck.”
She slowly nodded, and I repeated this step two more times to tell the colonel and Aiden. Time felt like it passed slowly, as we waited for the reveal of the raiders.
The lights flashed on, and I got a good view of two raiders in front of me, their weapons pointed directly at us. I gripped my GS3. “Down!” I yelled as I opened fire on the first raider.
The rounds hit the center mass of the man, and he tumbled.
Experience: 21
Immediately shifted and put another light burst into the second raider.
Experience: 19
The initial shock of us attacking first wore off. I felt a blast of pellets bounce off my back. The combat armor took the brunt as I shifted to my left and saw a single raider standing there trying to get his weapon to fire.
The raider was messing with the bolt of the rifle he held. His weapons malfunction was to my benefit. I fired a short burst into the third raider, and he slumped over dead dropping his ruined weapon to the floor.
Experience: 15
I pivoted on my heel again to face our rear. The two raiders there were firing widely. I had a feeling they really wanted to take us alive, use us as slaves or sell us. A fatal flaw, they expected us to be terrified of them. I was not, and it sealed their deaths.
Experience: 24
Experience: 18
I made one last pivot, and the last raider dropped his gun and put his hands in the air.
“I surrender, I surrender,” he pleaded.
I put a short burst in his chest.
Experience: 23
“You don't get to shoot at me, and then expect me to let you live,” I said has the body slumped to the ground.
Valerie, Aiden, and the colonel all stood up from the ground. The entire combat took around a minute to complete. Valerie moved over to me and put her hand over a small wound from one of the shotgun pellets.
“Cover this up quick,” she whispered into my ear.
I gave her a quick acknowledgment. I quickly pulled out my tacpad and grabbed a bandage. “Are you hit?” the colonel asked, noticing the tablet in my hands.
I pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around my waist where the pellet penetrated before answering the man. I needed to make sure it still looked like I was bleeding before my abnormal healing took over. “Just a pellet, but I don't want to bleed all over everything.”
“If it gets worse, let us know. I don't need you dying out here on me,” Colonel Whitmore acknowledged.
“Will do.” I made my way over to one of the bodies and quickly looted any of the ammunition and medical supplies from it.
I did this with each body before we made our way to the rear of the station.
“Colonel, where are these soldiers supposed to be?” Valerie asked as we began to descend a flight of stairs.
“They were supposed to be occupying this building,” he answered his tone grim. “Though if they're still alive, there should be a fallout bunker on the final floor of this facility. That's where we'll find them.”
As we descended the stairs, I could not shake the feeling we were still being watched. I took point, being the first one to make their way down the stairs. When I hit the landing, a stray bullet plinked off my chest armor. I brought up my weapon and sent out a small burst into the raider who had stood defiant against us.
Experience: 21
Something itched at the back of my head, something I could not shake. I doubt it only a handful of raiders could get a large group of trained American Remnant soldiers to fall back. We continued down, ignoring the rest of the landings where we could unless we caught fire from a raider or two who had been hiding out.
Seven floors down, we finally hit the last step. Concrete walls met my gaze, the originally gray concrete was now blackened in certain areas from laser weapon fire. There were a few dead bodies lying face down on the concrete.
The blood looked old, just like it had on the dead in the main concourse above. I stepped over to the closest body and brought up the looting menu. It had already been emptied out of anything useful except for the armor and clothing of the dead raider.
I looked down the dim hallway and saw a large door at the end of it. “That must be where they are,” the colonel said stepping ahead of me.
The colonel took the lead and headed straight for the door. I thought him foolish as he was not looking for any traps. I tried to pick up my pace toward him, but he got lucky as there were no traps between us and the door.
