34 Beneath Your Skin

I froze in place, my heart stopping. His voice compelled me to stand, but my mind roared at me to stay still. I stayed seated, resisting the temptation of his voice. As time passed, the iron grip of my steeled mind loosened up. Sweat poured down my temples and forehead. Every part of my body screamed out, commanding me to stand and listen to him. It was like someone had put a gun to my forehead and told me to obey.

Gritting my teeth, I stayed firm. He hadn't seen me. He hadn't locked eyes with me. For all I knew, ELijah was bullshitting. I bit my lip until blood poured into my mouth. The iron taste kept me together. It reminded me of all the blood outside and just what Yawm may do to me if Elijah found me. Even then, my mind’s dominance crumbled, one piece at a time.

Elijah said into the sky, “If I must come drag you out, you will be punished instead of rewarded. Now come.”

He sounded like my mother, stern yet gentle. It was like I was staring at a cliff, and he was telling me not to jump. He promised so much with so few words. The tendrils of his voice dug into my eyes and ears. They invaded my mind, tearing me apart as I struggled with all my might to stay sane.

One of my feet pressed into the ground, pushing me up with a slow crawl. With my mouth clamped shut, I screamed in my mind for my leg to stop. It wouldn’t listen. My armor would, however.

I retracted the armor from covering the rebellious leg before taking a deep breath. I pressed my armored fingertips into my bare thigh before sharpening them. They dug into the meat of the thigh, severing tendons and flesh. The pain wasn’t what was hard about it. Watching my thigh gush blood was what made me sick. The muscles in my thigh seized up. With my fingers inches deep, the leg finally stopped pushing me upwards.

A minute later, Elijah grumbled, "And here I believed that the perpetrator was still here. A pity. Yawm would've loved one with a bit more meat on his bone. It makes for more to mold..."

A wing of skin ripped from under his cloak. As it swung down, he flew out into the air before flying out into the distance. As he left, I fell down and heaved for breath. I leaned my head back against the wall, my hands and lips trembling. I pulled my hand out of my thigh. That had been the power of charisma at its highest strength. Before he came again, I’d have to leave.

With that in mind, I turned back towards the blockade behind me. My thigh healed after a minute of waiting, so I walked towards the back of the house. From the window, I saw soldiers who were rife with activity. Elijah must have terrified them. I know he terrified me.

No doubt their boss chewed them out when I busted through the blockade last time. Unfortunately for them, it was time for me to do it again. I wasn’t about to wait for someone even worse than Elijah to show up. I’d rather just run through the bullets a second time.

I’d learned from last time though. I skulked up as close as I could from within a house lining the barricade. With a running sprint, I leapt through the back window before dashing straight towards a sparse looking portion of the barricade.

The guards reacted far faster than before, but I didn't have near the same distance to run. I had run over a football field before reaching them before. Now I'd barely run fifty feet(17 meters ~) before reaching the road.

As I passed by, they unloaded their rifles right into my back. By the time I'd run into the surrounding forest, they didn't even burn through a tenth of my health bar. That's the difference fifty plus levels and a plan makes.

Still, I sprinted through the forest like my feet were on fire. I couldn't afford to have them tail me like last time. As I crashed through a blackberry bramble, I checked if I'd gotten any new messages. Torix had sent me one.

Torix Worm, of Darkhill(2:08am 3/5/00) - I've told the others. Kessiah and I moved the marble plates elsewhere. I've marked the location on your map. I will be sending Yawm a message so he does not continue searching this world for Althea. Regardless of that, Schema will likely interfere with his supposed infection. You don't have to worry for your homeworld, I guarantee you that.

It's hard to worry about the world when your stuck worrying about yourself and your friends. I ignored that and tried to get a grip on what had happened since I left.

The first thing I noticed was the fact a whole day had passed. I'd been fighting all night. I suppose with how the enemies regenerated off each other, that made sense. The second thing I noticed was how close the map location was to town. I imagined Torix would want to get he fuck away from here. That was when I surfed through my notifications. I had over fifty of them. It reminded my of clearing out an inbox for an email address, a bit tedious but it felt productive.

There was one unique message out of the bunch.

Call to Action(Quest of Survival) - Yawm of Flesh has started an infestation on your world. It's up to you and your species to protect yourselves. Doubled experience within the quarantined zone. Based on experience points earned, you will gain a bonus reward after the quest ends. The value of your reward will be determined with a numerical representation of points. No one is allowed to leave during the duration of this quest.

You may turn in these earned points early for a lesser reward to assist with destroying the enemies. There will be six sentinels placed near Springfield to assist with containment, and an overseer as well. The point system is as follows:

1 point for Spawns

5 points for Grikes

25 points for any Unnamed of Yawm

50 points for any Named of Yawm

100,000 points for follower kills. Sentinel rights are given to anyone who slays a follower of Yawm.

100,000,000 points for killing Yawm. Overseer rights are given to the killer of Yawm.

Experience multipliers count towards point gains. Good luck.

Current point total: 24

I couldn't help but feel sorry for any low level fucks who came here expecting easy exp. The easiest enemy was level 200, which I doubt any human on earth had reached. The enemies here were too low level for it. The doubled exp made my 55 level jump more reasonable as well. The points and doubled experience would make for excellent incentives. I could leap frog up several hundred levels over a few weeks with the bonuses.

I didn't want to though. I didn't like whatever the fuck this armor and this system was doing to me anymore. At first it felt like I was getting stronger and faster and smarter. That wasn't the case though. I had woken up eating corpses. It was completely fucked up. I'm not someone who takes things to heart. Hell, if anything I'm a bit numb to things now. That doesn't mean I can't see what the fucks going on here.

It was like Schema was trying to make me into some monster eater. I didn't take that shit seriously, but fuck man. I'd already started eating people. The fuck was wrong with me? I didn't know anymore. I guess circumstances had kinda forced me into it, but it was still fucked up regardless.

Those thoughts tumbled in my head as I paced through the forests nearby. I'd never been where Torix set up camp, but it was nearby some rolling hills with a few trees here or there. It looked like an abandoned pasture, the grass long and wild. As I neared a hillside, I reached a doorway into the side of a hill. It was as inconspicuous as a rotting stump in a field. You could hardly tell it was there.

I opened the door, bits of dirt falling down before I walked inside. There a set of earthen steps, supported by long, winding roots that helped them keep their shape. Once I stepped down into the cave, there was a glowing pool of water at the center of a large room. The same cyan glow ebbed off the pool like BloodHollow, giving an underwater hue to the marble plates all along the edges of the room.

Torix was casting with black mana ebbing from his right hand. It passed through the tome in hisleft hand, turning the mana green. Roots restructured from the plants above, forming walls and rooms of the cavern. Althea was hunched over a work desk lining a wall of the room, messing with some ammo. It looked like a bola that tribesmen threw at people's feet in the movies.

Kessiah floated in the pool, casting a shadow onto the room's roof. The mana bended away from her, keeping her floating an inch or so above it. On the edges of the room, several yellow crystals cast light onto the corners and edges of the entire expanse. Along the back wall was a hallway leading towards four rooms.

As I walked up, I said,

"Jesus. You really went all out fixing this place up, didn't you guys?"

They all glanced at me, keeping their gazes fixed for a few seconds before Althea frowned and said,

"You're a higher level than me now. What happened?"

I sighed before saying, "There was a bunch of bullshit that went down. I was basically surrounded by a bunch of zombies. I killed a couple before getting back here."

Torix nodded and said, "Now that you're here, there's been a change of plans."

I raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet. Torix coughed into a hand before saying, "I had believed that I couldn't finish the summoning ritual because of your mana signatures. I obviously shouldn't have doubted myself. I believe it was due to Schema's requirements for this 'quest of survival.' That and-"

Kessiah leaned up by pushing up with her hands. The pool of glowing water bended under her as she said, "I call bullshit. You couldn't get it to work."

"Idiotic outbursts aside, the plan has changed. Getting offworld when Schema refuses to let us leave is impossible."

I said, "But you're not using Schema's normal transport right?"

"Schema can stop us from teleporting at anytime. Simply put, we are normally beneath his notice. This quest changes that. Now we have to either hide from Yawm until this quest ends, or assist with ending it. I believe our course of action is obvious."

Althea stood and said, "I was almost twenty levels over you. This is bullshit."

I grinned as I said, "You can just catch up. No big deal, right?"

Her eyes narrowed before she sat down, "Yeah...I guess so."

Torix frowned, "The quest will dramatically speed up both of your progression towards fighting Yawm. Since the quest will no doubt attract other beings towards earth as well, using your runic carvings and other powers will be allowed within a week."

Kessiah pulled herself out of the pool, pulling herself up and out with a single hand. She raised both hands and said, "What the old sack of dry skin is trying to say, is that I'm going to be taking both of you out on raids. It's gonna be awesome."

I raised an eyebrow, "Raids?"

"You know, when people go out to kill tons of monsters."

I shrugged, " I never really played videogames much."

Torix blinked a few times, "What a surprise. An offworlder is teaching a native about his own culture."

I walked up towards the wall wide desk that Althea sat at before sitting there myself. Torix had summoned curled up roots from nearby grasses, making for a surprisingly soft seat. I leaned onto the table, "I had other stuff to worry about. Anyways, what kind of raids are we going out on?"

Kessiah bounced on her heels as she walked over, "We'll be sneaking past the steel legion's barricade, killing some of those things, then coming back. It'll be a routine to shape both of you up."

I made my armor peel off my head and dragged my hands across my face, "Can we not do that?"

Kessiah leaned back, "What happened to mister bloodlust over here?"

I frowned, "I went a little overboard last time I fought them. Plus, getting ambient mana through the zombies is like cannibalism, kinda."

Kessiah walked over and placed a hand onto the wall beside me. She narrowed her eyes, "Do you know what a sentinel's rights are?"

I glanced around, shocked at Kessiah's sudden seriousness. I said, "Uh, no..."

"They let you ignore Schema, and gain a sentinel's protections. That means that Torix and I wouldn't have to deal with all this bullshit anymore. The problem is, killing one of those four followers of Yawm is a tough fucking job."

She pressed a finger against my chest, pushing my back, "Torix and I need you and Althea's help for it. Otherwise, we're gonna be unknowns forever."

There was more passion in her voice than when she was humming the lullaby in the forest. I calmed myself, swallowing my anger. I wanted friends that mattered. That meant doing the hard things I didn't want to do, like kill shambling mounds of zombie. I was done being alone. I'd already given up on Michael and Kelsey. I wasn't about to give up on the only people I had left.

I stood up, "Calm down, Kessiah. I didn't know what all that meant. I didn't want to fight them cause it was disgusting, but it's important to you guys. That's enough of a reason for me. I mean shit, I have to fight anyway. Why not fight for friends?"

Kessiah leaned back, "Oh...Uh, well...Thanks."

I gave her a thumbs up, "No problem. When's the next, er, raid planned?"

Torix said, "They were waiting for when you were ready. We all figured you'd need some rest when you came back."

I shook my head, "Naw, I'll be fine. Let's go."

Kessiah glanced around, "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I just got a little heated was all. It's ok if you need to sleep or something."

I shrugged, "I'm fine, but I'd like to check out Michael and Kesley. See if their safe and all that shit."

Torix frowned, "We can discuss it after you've rested...They are in the back room. You may see them if you like, but don't awaken them yet. There's certain measures that must be put in place first."

Torix tapped the edge of the table, uncomfortable as someone with a rock in their shoe. I frowned, "Are you alright Torix? You seem jumpy as hell."

"What? Oh, yes. Of course."

I tapped the edge of the table behind me, "Good. I think I'll just look them over. I don't know what I'd say to them anyway. Honestly, I think the steel legion was taking them out of harm's way more than capturing their asses. We may have ran in without knowing enough about the whole situation."

I tapped my head once or twice with my fist as I continued, "Eh, I'll see what I can do about it. Maybe I can get them joined up with some other faction somewhere else."

Kessiah glanced at the ground before grabbing one of her arms against her side. Althea looked away at the wall. Torix reached out a hand before pulling it back. I snapped,

"What the fuck is wrong with all of you?"

No one said shit after I gave them a moment to reply. I glanced around, everyone silent. Frustrated and annoyed, I narrowed my eyes, "Alright, well you guys can tell me what's going on when you get all your shit together. See all this shit everywhere? Please, get it together."

I walked back into the back of the dirt cavern. Torix had grown roots to support the walkways, each of them intertwining into elegant archways. At the back was a small, earthen room where the two containment tubes leaned against the wall. Kelsey and Michael just floated in them, suspended in motion. I sat on the ground made of moss on the opposite end of the room. I leaned onto my knees as I stared at them both.

It was a weird feeling. I thought that keeping them uninvolved was the best way of keeping them safe. That wasn't the case at all. Of course, being involved with them might have put them to death. I couldn't have known either way. I stared at my armored palms, the runes jagged. I wasn't used to being so helpless.

Up till now, I focused on making myself stronger. I didn't have to worry about anyone, or at least I chose not to. Keeping these two safe was going to be a lot harder than helping myself. Just thinking about having to watch over these guys made my stomach sink. It was like I had a ball and chain on each leg, and now I carried them around. I couldn't even know if I was helping them, even now.

I preferred things when they were simple. See bat. Smash bat. See giant hivemind. Smash giant hivemind. Now that I was in this wide open world, things weren't quite so straightforward. When handling Michael and Kelsey earlier, I fumbled around like some fucking headless chicken. Now I'm a headless chicken that eats people.

I peeled back my armor from my face before standing up. I was dwelling on a bunch of shit I couldn't change. Anytime I spent too long thinking, I ended up depressed. It was something my dad did all the time, and I hated that about him. There was no point in picking up the habit now. I walked up and tapped the container, sending a ripple through the tube before leaning against it. There was tug at my mana as I closed my eyes for a second.

I laid my head against the tube. A second later, a dull smack sent me tumbling backwards. I stared up, and Michael stared back at me. His eyes were hollow as a man hanging from a noose. Black veins started growing out of the side of his neck. I choaked on my words,

"No. No, there's no way...Fuck no."

But there they were, infested and hungry.