Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 8 (Patreon)

When we returned to the third floor, Damian was alone. Everyone else in the office had picked up their things and left. He scowled at us as we walked by, and I shook my head. If he wanted to die for n end of year bonus that would never come, that was on him. At least he wouldn't be getting anyone else killed.

There were Scavenger Cockroaches nibbling on the corpses on the second floor, and we killed them off before continuing back down to rejoin all the survivors we’d gathered so far. I saw no more signs of the rats, which meant we’d probably killed all but the Rat Matriarch in our last fight. I was worried about her as much as I was concerned about Craig. She was probably terrorizing one of the neighboring office complexes.

“We haven’t checked the basement yet,” Sakura suggested. “Nobody’s been down there in ages.”

I nodded. “That’s probably where all the cockroaches and rats came from in the first place.”

We checked it out, and sure enough, there were plenty of those level one cockroaches. No rats, though. There was, however, a huge hole in the bulkhead door, so we knew where the Rat Matriarch had probably left the building after licking her wounds. When we realized the cockroaches weren't giving any of us levels anymore, we decided to leave them be.

"These will be a valuable resource for some of the others when they come to terms with our situation," I explained.

"Yes, fighting a couple of level one cockroaches will be a lot safer for them than going after giant rats or those rogue printers Carter likes stabbing so much." Sakura nodded along.

So we left the rest of the cockroaches be, though I did have some gains to show for clearing the rest of the office.

Your Caster proficiency has reached 4!

Your Neutral Mana proficiency has reached 2!

It was a bit odd how much faster Caster was increasing over both Neutral Mana and Improvised Weapons. I could only reason that not all proficiencies were equal. Some were simply tougher to improve.

Now that I had time, I examined the effects of both proficiencies. They truly were worth increasing, and the gains from them were almost as great as getting another level.

Caster Proficiency 4

Increases the damage of magical projectiles. Current bonus: Additional 40% effect on all targets.

I'd watched the proficiency increase as I leveled it up, and the bonus increased by ten percent each time. At ten proficiency, my Mana Bolts would be twice as potent. That was good, because I was starting to hit a ceiling with them in raw stopping power. Even one charged as much as I could charge it wasn't powerful enough to bring down a target of my own level. Though my mana capacity scaled with my intelligence, that wasn't true of Mana Bolt's damage. Increasing my Caster Proficiency was my only way to make those attacks more powerful, and until I got another spell I would be reliant on that proficiency to increase my damage.

Neutral Mana Proficiency 2

Increases the efficiency of all neutral mana used. Current bonus: 20%

The Neutral Mana proficiency improved at the same rate as Caster, but instead of boosting damage it boosted the amount of times I could cast Mana Bolt. All told, it didn't seem particularly valuable to me at the moment, even though it was by far the harder proficiency to increase. But maybe if I had more spells I would be singing a different tune.

We headed back up to talk to Benjamin and Margret. Their office was just about overflowing with people now that they’d taken everyone they could in. A few had wandered over to our old office on the other side of the hall, but people were staying away for now. Perhaps they’d had a run-in with Craig.

There must have been a few more cockroach attacks since we last visited, because Benjamin was busy directing people to set up defenses.

“How goes it?” I asked.

Margaret smiled at me. “Well, thank you for saving our asses back there. I didn’t realize how bad these bugs would get. We’ve had to fend off a few bigger variants. We’ve got everyone barricaded in the conference room right now.”

Benjamin shook his head. “I think we’re getting more and more of the big ones.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Those big ones are the Scavenger Cockroaches, right? We’ve fought quite a few of them ourselves. I think eating part of a human body lets them evolve. Unfortunately, there are a lot of corpses upstairs, so until we bury them, we’re probably going to keep dealing with those Scavenger Cockroaches.”

Benjamin frowned. “We can hold them off for now easily enough. But we went from regular ordinary cockroaches to giant cockroaches to massive cockroaches in two hours. So who’s to say we won’t be dealing with cockroaches the size of this building by tomorrow? Not that we even have the food to keep everyone fed that long. It hasn’t even been an hour, and the break room fridge is completely empty.”

I ran my fingers through my hair as Benjamin, Sakura, and Margaret all circled up around me. “I see two options here. Either we leave the building to look for food, or we start cooking and eating the cockroaches. Leaving the building will get us food that’s a lot more appealing to the people here, but whoever makes the trip will take their life in their hands. We already know of one powerful, ferocious monster roaming the area nearby.”

I told them about the Rat Matriarch and how tough she’d been to beat the last time we fought her. Benjamin and Margaret took me at my word that this rat was big enough to rip a man limb from limb, and was probably even bigger and stronger now. And that was just one monster. What about the ones we didn’t know about?

In the end, they gave in to the safer but more disgusting option of talking everyone into eating cockroaches. I left it to them to break the news to everyone. For my part, I was knew that the levels of the monsters in the office building were too low to give me many experience points. I’d need to leave soon if I wanted to keep grinding levels. The same went for Sakura, though Bridget and Caleb could stand to grind at least one more level each against Scavenger Cockroaches.

I was just getting ready to break the news to Benjamin and Margaret that I planned on taking a trip when the door down the hall opened. I felt a tingle run up the back of my neck like a sixth sense, and my head whipped around to see Craig standing at the door.

He looked taller than he had before. He’d always had muscles, but now they were twice as large. He’d definitely put some points into strength, maybe even all the points he’d gained.

And I knew he’d gained a lot of points. He was down to three clips for his handgun. Our old office had probably been attacked by just as many cockroaches as Benjamin and Margaret’s. Only Craig probably took all the experience points for himself.

“Hello again, Craig.” My guarded tone was a warning to the others. Margaret and Benjamin each took a step back, but Sakura stood tall by my side.

“Carter, Benjamin.” Craig nodded at us, not paying much attention to Sakura or Margaret. He stared at us for a moment, and I felt a tingle run up my spine at his gaze, like he was piercing me straight down to my bones. Then, after squinting a while, he sneered at Benjamin and looked smug while staring at me. “Looks like you two are having a little defense meeting. I don’t think it’s appropriate to have one without me.”

Benjamin chewed on his lip a moment as he figured out a diplomatic response, but his wife beat him to it with a scowl.

“You’re welcome to join us if you feel like contributing something useful to the conversation.” Margaret crossed her arms and glared up at Craig.

Craig shrugged. “Sure, miss. My contribution is that I can kick ass however and whenever I please.” He smiled, flexing his own newly swollen biceps in admiration. They looked twice as big as before. He'd probably dumped quite a few points into strength. “Monster or man.”

My fingers twitched. I wondered if Mana Bolt would hurt Craig. But no. I'd had enough experience with the attack to know it wouldn't take him down even with a fully powered shot. My Mana Bolts weren't a match for the bullets in his gun, especially considering Craig was probably higher level than anything I'd faced. I shoved all thoughts of a surprise attack aside. The chance of success was just too low.

“...Right. I’m sure you will be key to protecting all the good people of this office,” Benjamin said, shooting me a glance out of the corner of his eyes while he spoke.

It looked like it would be up to me to fend him off, so I said what was on everyone’s minds.

“Alright, why are you here, Craig? What do you want?”

I expected him to get angry, but he smiled. “I want to bring everyone under my wing. After all, I’m the strongest here. So, I should be in charge.”

“Might does not make right,” Benjamin said.

Craig smiled and tapped the handle of his gun.

Benjamin paled and took a step backward, returning to his prior strategy of letting me do all the talking.

He was acting friendly now, but I could see the hostility behind Craig’s eyes. He still hadn’t forgotten about that incident in the hallway. Or about me standing behind Sakura as she fired him. In his mind, he’d been slighted, and he wouldn’t be satisfied until he was certain he’d made me pay.

“If you want to be helpful, you could clear out the basement. There are plenty of cockroaches down there.” I waited and hoped he’d take the bait. There were truthfully a lot of cockroaches down there, but they were level one. If Craig still relied on his gun, he’d have to use every bullet he had left on them. And he'd barely get any experience points for killing them all. I wasn’t sure what level he was at, but I’d have an easier time keeping up with him if we both made do with improvised weapons. As it was, I was certain he was at a higher level than me, just thanks to how much easier it was for him to kill stuff with a proper weapon.

Craig looked like he was considering the idea, but after glancing at his remaining cartridges, he snorted.

“Sounds like your problem, not mine. I’ll deal with them if they come for me,” Craig said.

“And what about all those people you promised to protect in our office? Surely they’d be safer if you took out those bugs before they become a problem.”

But Craig rolled his eyes. “I won't waste my time fighting a few tiny bugs. I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to get me to leave so you can talk everyone in the office over to join you and Benjamin over here while I’m busy fighting. I’ve seen through your scheme.”

That hadn’t been my plan at all, nor did I really see the benefit of doing that kind of thing. But I also knew I would not convince Craig of anything when he’d already decided. Still, I felt like I should point out the obvious flaw in his logic.

“Maybe not me, but soon or later, you’ll be busy. You can’t do everything yourself.”

Craig smirked. “And that’s actually why I’m here. I’m going to take my pick from the people you’ve got, and I’ll take the fiercest of them under my wing.” Without another word, he stalked off. His eyes focused on several survivors lingering near the barricade, and it was obvious that he had the skill Examine or something like it.

That tingle running up my spine must have been him using the skill. The smug look on his face afterward was probably because he realized he was at a higher level than I was. I was thankful we’d kept things civil, even though I knew he was still nursing a grudge.

“Hey, listen up!” Craig shouted. His voice boomed over the sound of chatter and barricade construction. “Put that shit down and listen to me!”

He sounded louder and more impressive than I thought possible for a human. I wasn’t sure if that was his strength points or some other ability, but most turned to listen.

But Craig was unsatisfied with most. He wanted everyone looking at him. So, a moment later, he pulled out his gun and fired two shots into the air. That finally got everyone quiet and looking his way.

“I need some tough bastards ready to fight tooth and nail to defend what’s theirs. Step up if you think you’re man enough. Anyone who follows me gets their pick of good food, good beds, and good women. I’m raiding the convenience store next door. Who’s in?”

Craig’s speech was brief and to the point. Combined with his outfit and the gun in his hand, he looked far tougher than Benjamin standing next to me in a suit and tie.

A few people stepped forward in interest. Craig rolled his eyes over them one after another, probably using his Examine skill on each of them to check their levels.

“Not you. Fuck off. You... maybe. You get lost. Yeah, you stand over here.” Craig pointed at person after person. Those rejected stormed away in a huff, but those who Craig viewed positively seemed even more inclined to hear what Craig had to say since he’d singled them out as special. In less than thirty seconds, Craig had a group of six guys who all looked much like himself. Tall, square-jawed, and muscular, though none quite as much as Craig himself. Then he turned to some of the women hovering around the area and started pointing out a few of them as well.

For these, he wasn’t using his Examine skill. As soon as he’d picked the first three, his criteria were obvious. He was just picking the hottest young women in the crowd.

"Nice tits, you're in. You... turn around? Mhm, passable ass. You're in. You could stand to lose a few pounds, but I'll take you for now," Craig began.

I turned and saw Benjamin’s fingers digging into his palm. He and Magaret came to the same realization I’d come to.

“He’s going to take our best fighters,” Margaret said sadly. “The ones who’ve proven themselves best at fending off those bugs.”

I shrugged. “Probably. But he’s the highest level in the office, which means none of us can do a thing about it.”

Benjamin turned back to me. “He’s promising food, shelter, and women to join him on the other side of the office. We’re going to look like idiots when we tell everyone they have to start eating cockroaches.”

Like it or not, we were in a competition with Craig. Or rather, Benjamin and Margaret were. After the rest of my office ditched me, the only people I felt any responsibility toward were Sakura, Caleb, and Bridget. Which was probably for the best. I’d designed my bunker with only myself in mind, and fitting four would already be a stretch.

While Benjamin and I whispered to one another, Craig was selecting more women.

“You, you, and... hmm... I guess you’ll do, but just barely. Oh, and Bridget! Get your ass over here!” Craig yelled at Bridget, who stood just behind me and to my left.

“Fuck off, Craig,” Bridget yelled.

This wasn’t the first time Craig had been turned down. In fact, most of the women he’d selected were ignoring him, and more than a few had flashed middle fingers his way. But this was the first time someone had spurned him so directly.

“Well, alright then.” Craig scoffed and cast her a glare that lingered on her a little too long. He didn’t stop staring until Sakura pulled her aside and scowled back at him.

Craig’s eyebrows rose in surprise when he came across Sakura. Now that I was looking at her again, Sakura had definitely gotten hotter. Maybe it was the stats, or maybe I was seeing her in a different light, but her torn suit and ragged clothes fit her way better than I would have ever imagined.

Still, Craig remembered his grudge against Sakura for firing him, especially when he turned his gaze to meet mine.

“You’ve got your people, Craig. Now see if you can keep them alive.” I spoke loud enough that Craig’s new circle of followers could hear me, and a few of them seemed to have second thoughts. At least until Craig let his hand run over the handle of his pistol and flashed me a cocksure sneer.

Without another word, he spun and turned. His new recruits followed close behind.

<Note>

"Am I going crazy, Marvin? What are those proficiencies? I thought they were new but they're in the previous chapters."

You're not crazy. I added them and then replaced the previous chapters while fixing the stat issue. I stumbled across the fact that I planned to do them in my notes, but I completely forgot about them while writing. So I added them back in.

I also had feats in my notes, which would be stats gifted based on doing cool stuff. I think I did that in the previous version of Amazon Apocalypse and thought it worked well enough to bring it over to this version, but I forgot about them too. Maybe I can start adding them in later or something.

Carter Smith (Human, Level 6. Rank F)

Strength: 6

Agility: 4

Perception: 6

Vitality: 11

Intelligence: 15

Willpower: 6

Charisma: 6 (+4)

Luck: 0