Book 1: Chapter 56: Crossing Over

Book 1: Chapter 56: Crossing Over

Alyssa sagged to one knee, propping herself up with the Spear of the Dragon Lancer. Looking around, she saw that the rest of her party looked just as exhausted as she felt. No one seemed nearly as drained as Bryce, though. But that wasn’t surprising, considering that, as they cleared their way to the first bridge, he’d become their most powerful weapon. Despite his clear weaknesses – long cast times and horrible physical attributes – the Wizard’s spells had torn through the zombies in a way none of the others could replicate.

Again – not terribly surprising, considering that they’d taken great pains to put him into optimal situations, setting numerous traps and guarding his back along the way. But it was still impressive, nonetheless. Now, though, they’d finally reached their goal.

“How many do you think we killed?” asked Chen, her leather armor ripped and her hands bloody. During the short campaign, the woman had put her martial arts prowess on display, and while she wasn’t as powerful of a healer as some Alyssa had seen, she made up for it in versatility. She wasn’t the strongest combatant, but she was far from weak, either.

“Thousands, at least.”

“I figured we would have gotten more experience,” Bryce said. “But after that first bump, it’s been...I don’t know. Underwhelming.”

“Speak for yourself, beanpole,” said Trace as he wiped viscera from one of his blades. “I got a whole level.”

“I got two, but –”

“And you’re complaining?” Trace asked, shaking his head in derision. “You kids today. No sense of –”

“We’re like the same age,” Bryce interrupted.

“I’m an old soul.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Trace shrugged. “A badge I wear with honor,” he said. “Nobody’s looking out for the fool, right? Being underestimated is a weapon just like any other. You should write that down.”

Bryce shook his head. “That would mean a lot more if I thought it was intentional,” he said. “Acting like an idiot is one thing. Actually being dumb is something else.”

Before Trace could respond, Roman cleared his throat. He’d taken a back seat during the fighting, but he was still the leader of Easton. So, he had no trouble getting everyone’s attention.

“We still have a bridge to cross,” he said. “We need to find somewhere to rest that isn’t covered in corpses. Then, we need to move on. I don’t want to be in here any longer than necessary.”

Alyssa voiced her agreement, and the others fell into line soon after. A few minutes later, they’d found their way to an old gas station, where they settled in for some rest. Roman sat next to her on the counter and offered her a piece of dried meat. She took it, pulling a bottle of water from her own pack.

“That was unpleasant,” Roman said, his eyes trained on the others, who’d all congregated in a different corner. Once again, Trace and Bryce were having an animated discussion, though Alyssa couldn’t make out the subject.

“It’s probably going to get worse when we cross the bridge,” she said. “I don’t know how it’ll be presented, but the guides were all pretty clear about the increasing difficulty. The further you progress, the worse it’ll get.”

Roman sighed, then ran his hand through his hair. He looked extremely tired, but that wasn’t so different than everyone else. They’d been fighting for what felt like an entire day, and while they’d done everything they could to mitigate the danger, there’d still been a few close calls. And Alyssa knew better than anyone how thoroughly life-and-death situations could drain a person’s energy.

“It’s hard to believe, you know.”

“What?”

“This,” Roman said, gesturing to their surroundings. “Magic towers and spells and zombies. It really wasn’t that long ago that the worst I had to worry about was a domestic abuse call. I mean, I moved out of Seattle to get away from the stress of living in a big city. Now, I’m responsible for thousands of people. If I make the wrong choice, people die. Even if I make the right decisions, people die. All I can do is mitigate it. I can’t stop it. Not completely.”

That had been true even before the world had changed. Sometimes, bad things happened, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. It was a lesson she’d been forced to learn when her parents had died, but it had really been driven home during her time as a police officer.

“You’re doing the best you can,” she said, reaching out to grip his shoulder reassuringly. He flinched at her touch, but she pretended not to notice as she went on, “You care, Roman. That’s what matters. You just want what’s best for everyone.”

“I do,” he agreed. “But sometimes...sometimes, I’m afraid of what it’s doing to me. To us. Before all this, I would have tried to save everyone. Rationally, I know that it would’ve eventually killed us all. We don’t have the resources to support everybody. But still...”

Alyssa shook her head. “The fact that you’re worried about it means you’re a good man, chief. You’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation. We all are. So long as you keep working toward the greater good, I don’t think anyone has a right to criticize you. Not unless they’ve been in your shoes. Not unless they’ve had to make the same choices you’ve had to make.”

Not unless they’d experienced the same losses, Alyssa left unsaid. Trish’s death had come close to breaking Roman. He’d put on a strong front, and he had kept going despite his grief. But Alyssa knew him well enough to recognize how close he’d come to falling off the edge. That he’d somehow climbed his way out of that pit was just further evidence that he was worthy of her respect.

In fact, it seemed mostly unaffected by the deluge of attacks.

The creature lunged to its feet, pouncing on Chun before she had a chance to react. Another arrow hit it, and Alyssa rushed forward, using Charge to enhance her speed. She knew she wouldn’t get there in time, though.

The thing reared back and then, with the speed of a striking snake, descended upon Chun’s exposed jugular vein. It only took an instant before Alyssa rammed her spear into it, but by that point, it had already ripped the woman’s throat out. She fell away, limp and dying. Verin tried to cast a heal, but the impaled monster took her with a backhand before Alyssa could drive it away.

The older woman went tumbling across the asphalt, but Alyssa couldn’t do anything to help. Instead, she rammed her spear further into the monster’s chest until the blade got lodged in its ribs.

She shouted, “Burn it!”

Bryce had finally finished his spell. With the influx of experience during the first level, he’d earned a new one, which he let loose at Alyssa’s prompting. A fireball the size of a softball arced through the air, taking the monster in the shoulder. It quickly caught fire, and though it went wild, screeching in pain, Alyssa’s spear kept it under control.

A few moments later, it died, falling to the ground. The flames remained, continuing to burn through the monster’s body. It was a bulky thing, with the sort of muscles that would’ve qualified it to compete as a professional wrestler, and though it looked vaguely human, it clearly wasn’t.

With maggoty white skin, huge eyes, and pointed ears, it was something else entirely.

Alyssa only took it in at a glance before she turned her attention to her fallen comrades. When she did, she saw Verin kneeling beside Chun’s still form. The older woman’s hands glowed with blue light, but no matter how much she tried, it wouldn’t make the jump into Chun’s body.

Because the younger woman had already died.

Tears fell down Verin’s cheeks as the woman continued to attempt her casting. But it was too late. She knew it. Everyone did. Still, she tried. Over and over again until Roman rested his hand on her shoulder, saying, “She’s gone.”

Verin didn’t respond. Instead, she rose, then collapsed against the man’s chest. He wrapped his arm around her, comforting the Priest as best he could. After a moment, he looked at Trace and said, “Find us somewhere to rest. We need to get our bearings.”

As Alyssa watched the man disappear into the mist, she realized what had happened. On the surface, they were powerful enough to fight the monster. However, because of the nature of the previous level, where the zombies were all relatively weak, they’d gotten sloppy. And this new enemy had taken advantage of it.

That was her fault.

She was the battle leader, and now, because of her failure, one of their number was dead. She had always known it was possible. Likely, even. But knowing it was coming and watching someone die were two very different things. It was especially impactful because, at the end of the day, Chun had been her responsibility.

Then and there, she vowed to keep everyone else alive as they climbed the tower. But in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but doubt herself. Did she have the ability to follow through with that promise?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Only time would tell.

With that in mind, she collected Chun’s body, and when Trace returned, the subdued but alert group followed him into the lobby of one of the skyscrapers. Once inside, they found their way to a side room, where they blockaded the door with disused furniture.

Thus secured, they turned their attention to saying goodbye to the woman. Verin was the most affected, but none of them could look at their party member’s corpse without at least some guilt. As it turned out, Roman had known the woman best, and he handled the impromptu eulogy.

“She was a good person. I didn’t know her for long. She only arrived at Easton a little less than a month ago,” he said. “But she led a group of forty people across the wilderness, personally keeping most of them alive. She was a protector and a healer, and she will be missed.”

He delivered the short speech in a dry, emotionless voice, but Alyssa knew Roman well enough to recognize his guilt. Probably because she felt it, too.

For a long while, they just sat there, stunned. It hadn’t been that long ago that they’d been joking amongst one another. Now, though? None of them even considered making flippant remarks. Eventually, they started planning for the immediate future. They had a destination, though they didn’t know where it was, so finding the capital was the first order of business. Next, once it was found, they needed a safe way to make the journey. None of them thought that the monster that had attacked them was the only enemy, after all. Likely, there were a lot more of them out there.

In the end, it came down to taking the journey in steps. They intended to go from one building to another, using Trace and Roman as scouts. It wasn’t elaborate, and it certainly wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was the best any of them could come up with.

So with that established, the group set out, leaving the corpse of one of their own behind. Alyssa could only hope that it would be the last time they would be forced to do so.