Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 22 (Patreon)

I ruthlessly eliminated Craig’s guards, one after another. They finally realized something was going on after I killed the sixth one guarding the doors, which was further than I thought I would get.

Congratulations! You have advanced to level 12!

Your passive stat points have been assigned. +1 to all stats.

You have four points to assign.

+2 Strength +2 Agility.

Choose a Perception Skill!

Farsight (Common)

• View a momentary image of a distant location.

Dark sight (Common)

• Posses black and white vision even in total darkness.

Evolve Examine (Common) to Examine (Uncommon)

• Moderately increase the amount of information provided by examining a target.

Taking Myrina’s recent advice into account, I used the opportunity to enhance my Examine skill. It seemed the most versatile of the abilities I had available to me at the moment.

I put some points into strength and agility, following Myrina’s advice to push all my attributes to 20 so I could get those skills or potential upgrades.

Killing humans made the levels come so quickly. This must have been how Craig felt when killing Ben and the others. That I was leveling the same way Craig did annoyed me, but it didn’t stop me. The world had changed, and upon my resurrection, I’d changed with it.

These men and women had joined Craig, making them my enemies. The new me could bottle up all my love and friendship and save it for those I trusted. Everyone else would face only cold ruthlessness.

That was my resolution as I attacked in the dead of night. It was my explanation for why I felt satisfied each time I killed one of Craig’s men instead of horrified that I’d slain another human.

Was this who I was now? A monster that could only level by killing fellow humans? In time, would I become as bad as Craig?

Those were all questions for another day, though, preferably when I was using my Enlightenment Skill. For now, I still had people to kill.

Craig’s bandits rallied, and they started gathering up the others. With two of their level 10’s eliminated, they needed to reinforce the flank I’d disabled quickly. Otherwise, they’d have to deal with monsters coming inside the office.

It wouldn’t be long now before all of them were springing to action, though for the time being, it seemed like nobody had taken the time to get Craig or investigate the sudden deaths. They were still chalking up my strikes to monsters sneaking behind their lines. I suspected Craig was off guarding one of the flanks. He wouldn’t let his men get ahead of him in levels, so he’d be killing as many monsters as possible to keep his level advantage.

They were organizing a group of lower-level fighters to make up for the two I’d just killed. True to Craig’s methodology, they gathered up all the people from Ben’s teams and threw them out into the cold, making up for lost quality fighters with sheer quantity.

Much to my relief, I spotted Caleb and Marcus among those thrown to search for this hidden threat and cover the weakened flanks. If I could get them alone, I might bring them into my plan. But that would be a risk I wasn’t sure I was ready to take.

“Alright, you, you maggots. Unlike the ladies who we’ll guard just for their cute tushes, you lads have to earn your keep,” one of Craig’s men said. “Fend off any monsters coming from this side. Move! Retreat into the office before the quest is over, and you’ll face our guns instead of the monster’s teeth and claws. Craig’s crew doesn’t take in cowards!”

Clearly, Caleb and Marcus were being given one of the most dangerous jobs. The two of them were far ahead of the others in levels, and both were armed with little more than sticks. The men more loyal to Craig had guns and were sitting safely in the back. I doubted Craig’s men would weep if Caleb and Marcus died. In fact, that would probably be convenient for them.

I saw Caleb and Marcus cast each other a look and knew they were considering running away. That was probably part of the plan as well. This was an opportunity to get those who planned on ditching the shelter to flee with nothing more than the clothes on their back rather than waiting until after they’d consumed ammo, food, and equipment. From what few glimpses I’d seen, Craig was building a culture of brutal meritocracy with enforced gender roles strict enough to make the Romans turn to promoting women’s rights.

Most of those forced outside were men, except for a few women who’d clearly put far more points into strength than into charisma. Knowing Craig, he only wanted demure feminine women or something and was perfectly happy to send anyone who didn’t fit that mold either to their deaths or fleeing for their lives. That had me a bit worried. What was happening to Sakura and Bridget? Both were pretty strong, and I feared Craig might decide they were too strong.

In the end, I decided Caleb and Marcus could take care of themselves. If they decided to seize this opportunity to run away from Craig’s crew, that was probably for the best. They were safe and free for the moment.

The monster they thought they were flushing out was me, so they weren’t likely to run into anything. Having all of Craig’s guards outside patrolling for a threat they’d never find was the perfect opportunity for me to slip into the building.

It’s amazing how easy it is to sneak past people when you don’t even try to hide. Most of Craig’s crew had only seen my bruised and battered corpse, so I should look like a stranger to them. As long as I avoided anyone who’d worked at the office before, I remained unnoticed. Thankfully, most of Craig’s people had been recruited from elsewhere, and they’d already sent anyone who could have identified me outside in a vain attempt to search for me.

I avoided the exit Marcus and Caleb were stationed by, and Craig’s forces around the other exits were reorganizing quickly enough that I went unnoticed. I sensed a tingle run up my spine as someone Examined me, and their eyes widened when they saw my level. They swiftly stepped aside.

“You there...”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but I turned. Something in my eyes made him bite back his words.

My hand darted out from under my robes, and I fired a Mana Bolt under his chin. The force of the blow was swift and sure, and it snapped his neck in one blow. His level was low, and his vitality wasn’t very high. That one attack was enough to put him down.

He slumped backward, and I set him down behind the barricade he was defending. Hopefully, whoever found him would assume a monster got by the lines and killed him. It only needed to buy me a few minutes. That was time enough to do what I needed to do.

I slipped by without anyone else saying a word. Eventually, I would slip up and someone would catch me. But hopefully by then I’d have already found Bridget and Sakura and be ready to deal with Craig directly.

I found the missing woman just inside. There was a whole team of them, with brushes and mops scrubbing the blood out of the office carpet. I could see more of them hard at work in the rest of the office.

Someone had expanded the tiny kitchen dramatically, and most of the tables that hadn’t been dissembled to build the barricades were arrayed there preparing food. Some of that food came from the local grocery store and some had been harvested from the monsters slain outside. Teams of women were busy preparing and preserving both as they worked to feed a small army. I even spotted Bridget one door down the hall, hunched over a dissembled gun with a scowl as she repaired it.

There were other women nearby, and Craig had turned this part of the office into an assembly line where women repaired weapons and equipment. Unlike the cooks and cleaners, this position also had a guard stationed over it, looming over Bridget in particular.

The coat I picked up had a hood on it, and I pulled that up and stuck my hands in my pockets, hunching so my face wasn’t visible. While Craig’s goons couldn’t identify me, Bridget certainly could.

Seeing Bridget was a tremendous relief. For all his evil ways, Craig didn’t seem to be abusing the women under his care, even if he had reduced most of them to cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. I’d half expected him to turn them into sex slaves or something.

I had one other person I needed to see before I made my move. I had to act fast because the longer I took, the more opportunities would arise for me to get caught. I stuck to the sides of the office and walked fast, making good use of my knowledge of the building to avoid people while still having a good vantage point over the crowd. My increased perception was helpful as well. One quick glance into a room was enough for me to see everything worth seeing, and I could be in and out before anyone even looked my way.

My eyes had changed for the better at some point. Before, it was really only possible to see with the greatest clarity when looking straight ahead, but now I could see just fine throughout my field of view. I could even read signs when just seeing them out of the corner of my eyes. I hadn’t noticed it because of the darkness outside, but the enhancements to my body were a little surreal.

I headed back to the other side of the office, the one I’d worked in since getting my job under Sakura. I hadn’t seen her yet and, based on Craig’s words earlier, I hoped to find her here.

My instincts didn’t disappoint me. Craig hadn’t been joking when he said he was going to put her in charge of hauling buckets of shit for the shelter.

I remember Ben mentioning the toilets stopped working. His working theory at the time was that our connection to the city sewers had been cut by the integration, so as soon as the pipes flooded, they were finished.

As a temporary solution, Craig had his people place buckets in each of the stalls, and he stationed someone in the bathroom to haul those buckets outside every time someone filled them. Right now, that unlucky person was Sakura. I spotted her returning with a bucket and was surprised by how much higher her level was.

Sakura Miyamoto - Level 9

Class: None

Fighting style: Melee combatant

I spotted a few cuts on her palms, knuckles, and knees. The goo on her boot looked like the remains of a cockroach. I instantly realized her plan. Every time she went outside, she grabbed a few monster kills. It was a perfect way to keep leveling right under Craig’s nose. He probably expected her to fall far behind in levels, but Sakura had ideas of her own.

I wasn’t sure what she was planning, but the grim glint in her eyes told me she was planning something risky. But I had something else in mind for her. I approached from behind, using Sure Step to remain unheard and unseen. The skill told me exactly where to step to remain in her blind spot. I stood behind her as she returned to her post in the bathroom.

“Don’t scream.” I put a hand over her mouth to keep her from being surprised at my sudden appearance. The last thing I wanted was to draw any attention.

I felt her teeth scraping against my hand, and I had to pull it back before I lost a finger. I hurriedly pulled my hood down with my free hand so that when Sakura whipped around with a hand balled in a fist, my face was the first thing she saw.

The punch that followed seemed almost like an instinctual reaction, and behind it, she put enough force to bash someone’s skull in. Something told me this wasn’t the first time someone had tried to corner her in the bathroom.

“Sakura! It’s me!” I hissed. I stepped back and tried to catch her hand, but despite the levels I had on her, she still had more points in strength than I did. So I switched from trying to block the blow to just trying to redirect it.

Sakura froze with my hand on her wrist, even as she was busy cocking back her other hand for a follow-up punch.

“C-Carter?” Sakura said, face going pale. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. Perhaps that was exactly what she thought was happening.

“It’s me,” I said. “I’m back. I’m alive.”

“How? I... Craig made me throw your corpse in the dumpster...” Sakura said, tears welling in her eyes.

“You didn’t think I’d really let Craig kill me, did you?” I gave her a cheeky grin. I held out my hands, hoping for an embrace like the one Myrina had given me. But none came. Sakura’s eyes were wide and fearful. “Look, I don’t have time to explain everything, though I promise I will. I need you to do something for me.”

Sakura’s eyes were distant, brows furrowed and confused. She wasn’t sure if I was real or a figment of her imagination. “How can you be back?”

“Examine me,” I replied. “It will tell you who I am.”

I felt a tingle run up my spine as Sakura looked me over. “It says you’re Carter... but...”

I grabbed her hand, wrapping it up in my own. “I need you to take everyone who doesn’t deserve to die and get them outside. Can you do that?”

She looked at me in silence, then saw the seriousness in my expression. “I... I might. I don’t know if they’ll listen. Craig told everyone to ignore me and anything I said. Most fear to even talk to me...”

My face hardened. “Anyone who listens to Craig deserves to die. So don’t worry about them.”

Sakura winced as she looked at me, pulling her hand back. “A-are you sure you’re my Carter?”

I grimaced. “I promise I’ll explain everything once this is over. But, please, just do as I say. And make sure you get yourself out before the fires start.”

Her voice came out as timid as a mouse. That was nothing like the Sakura I knew. “...Okay.”

I pulled my hood up and turned. We parted ways, and I let the last traces of warmth welling up within me burrow deep into my core, far from sight. They weren’t fit for what I was about to do.

***

While Sakura headed for the other wing of the office, I went deeper into this one. This was the heart of Craig’s camp, where his most loyal followers rested from their battles rested and recovered. Most of them were new faces, but I recognized a few who abandoned Sakura and me in my moment of weakness to join Craig for the protection he could offer with his handgun.

Half of them were sleeping and helpless. Fighting monsters was tiring work, and they thought this was a safe place to rest.

I waited a moment, wondering if I would have second thoughts. But my heart was as cold as stone.

One generator had been moved down from upstairs, presumably to give these privileged few the benefits of electricity. Though others put the work into getting them working, these were Craig’s elites and deserved all the luxuries this humble band of survivors could afford. But that was about to come to an end.

I found the spare jugs of fuel. Some of them were in proper jugs, but most of it sat in janitorial buckets. They’d probably siphoned most of it out of the nearby cars. I made a note of where they were for later. For now, I spotted something familiar sitting beside one man resting by the wall in one of the side offices. There were four other men, all rough-looking and unfamiliar. Two were asleep, the other two close to it.

The one I spotted had my survival swords propped up by his pillow. And now that I was looking, I was pretty sure he had my old shoes, too. The thief looked like he was ready to nod off at any moment when I opened the door and startled him to wake again.

“You have something that belongs to me,” I said as I stood over him.

“Who the fuck do you--“ the man said as he moved to stand up.

I stomped on his throat, caving in his windpipe. Then, foot pressed into his throat, I stooped over and picked up my sword.

“Hey, what are you--“ the other man in the room began, but I shut him down by blasting him in the face with Mana Bolt. His jaw shattered with the blow, and I followed it up with one slice with my newly recovered sword. The other man’s eyes were bulging out as he realized he couldn’t breathe, and I put him out of his misery.

Finishing off the other two before they woke was even easier. Just like that, four more of Craig’s men were finished before they could even put up a fight.

Congratulations! You have advanced to level 13.

Passively assigned stats allocated. +1 all stats.

Manual allocation stats assigned. +2 Strength. +2 Agility.

Choose a strength skill!

Surging Strength (Common)

Boosts strength by 20% for your next action.

Super Thrust (Common)

Shove forward an appendage with incredible force.

Upgrade Power Jump (Common) to Power Jump (Uncommon)

Power Jump’s jump height increases, and cooldown decreases.

I picked up Surging Strength, remembering how high Craig’s strength stat was. I was spending my stats elsewhere, so I would probably be lower than him. But Surging Strength might let me escape a grapple if I ever got caught.

Choose a Willpower Skill!

Power of Nature (Common)

Harness ambient mana, offsetting the mana costs of skills and spell depending on your surroundings.

Upgrade Iron Will (Common) to Iron Will (Uncommon)

Pushes your stats beyond your natural limits, letting you temporarily run resources into the negatives for a recovery period afterward.

Next, I picked up Power of Nature. I wasn’t putting as many points into intelligence as I was before. This seemed like a way to circumvent not constantly building up my mana pool. Instead, I could just use what was already available to me.

I slipped into the next room and found two more sleeping men. Bloody sword in hand, I finished both of them off before they could even wake. They were both low level, so the gains were minimal.

The office next door had similar sleeping quarters, and I finished everyone there off as well. Craig’s people were nothing more than levels in the making for me. The fourth office brought another level for me.

Congratulations! You have advanced to level 14.

+1 all stats.

+4 Agility

I allocated my regular stats, pushing agility straight to 20 for the new skill.

Choose an Agility Skill!

Dash (Common)

Move with accelerated speed for a short time.

Upgrade Sure Step (Common) to Sure Step (Rare)

Sure Step suggestions become more accurate and come more frequently. Guidance projects ideal positioning further into the future.

I ended up upgrading Sure Step. It had proven to be a versatile and useful skill, and it seemed like that trend would continue. Also, I was nearing the 15 skills cap that Myrina warned me about for ‘E’ grade. I didn’t want to pass that until I was close to level 25, where I would reach the next rank threshold. I still had several more skills to pick from, and I wanted some of those skill slots open.

By now, nothing could hide what I was doing. Despite my best efforts to conceal my actions, I’d gotten blood sprayed all over my coat, and I was carrying a crimson-stained sword in my hand. After seeing me walk into four offices in a row, people were paying attention, and I saw a few fingers pointed my way.

“Hey, you can’t go in there!” someone shouted at me. “Someone get the gunners. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I don’t like it.”

I turned to the generator and the spare buckets of fuel I spotted earlier. With a pointed finger, I unleashed Mana Bolt on them.

“May Lyra have mercy on your souls,” I whispered. “Because you’ll get none from me.”

Fuel spread across the floor, soaking into the office carpet. I reached into my pocket for a book of matches. There had been plenty up for grabs in the survival kits I had been poking through recently.

I found one and swept it across the strip on the back. Once it lit, I tossed it toward the growing puddle of fuel. Some ran from the moment they saw me pull out the book of matches, and when the flames took hold anyone who wasn't running before was now. A few had their guns out, and one of them would have shot me if not for my Deflect spell. Not that one bullet would be enough to put me down with the amount of vitality I had now.

The match struck the fuel, and the entire room exploded in a sudden bright puff of flame. I stood off to one side as people opened fire at me. Seeing them was hard through all the smoke and flickering flames, but they were having even more trouble finding me than I was finding them.

I activated my new and improved Sure Step ability, and little dots appeared on the ground in my vision. Instinctually, I knew these marked good places to stand. When I used them, bullets whizzed by, and the best armed of my opponents couldn’t hit me through upturned debris or roaring flames.

You have gained the Heat Resistance Proficiency!

That was when I started returning fire. I shot spell after spell with Mana Bolt, relying on my new ability, Power of Nature.

I was used to my Mana Bolts using strictly neutral mana, but as soon as I activated Power of Nature, things changed. My spell still drew most of its power from me, but the last bit came from whatever it could gather around it. Considering we were standing in a massive fire, that meant Fire Mana.

My Mana Bolts became fireballs, each sticky and dripping with magical burning ichor and twice as big as the Fire Squirrels shot. I struck a man with a pistol, and every bullet left in his gun exploded at once in his hand, blowing it clean off.

That was just the start of it, though. The fire crawled up his arm, and he fell to the ground, rolling in the puddle of burning liquid beneath him. He didn’t even have time to scream as his skin burned away.

Congratulations! You have reached level 15!

+1 all points. Points available for distribution.

I felt strength surge through me again, though I didn’t have the time to assign my remaining four points. Craig’s followers fled before me as the building burned around us, and I grew stronger with every person killed.

I lost track of time then. Everything that came after was a haze of bullets, spells, and even hacking with my sword. It was bloody, violent, and absolutely without mercy. By now, anyone sleeping was either awake or as good as dead, so the fighting turned fierce as I was shot at from all directions.

Even with Deflect, I was shot dozens of times. Finally, I turned on Mind over Flesh, using some of my mana and the power from the ambient environment. The fire-tinged mana made me feel like there was lava in my veins instead of blood, but I ignored the pain as my body pushed out bullet after bullet.

“Run. Run!” One man screamed. He was wearing a prison uniform, and I recognized him as one of the two-level 10s who stood by Craig’s side when he’d killed me. With a high level, he was bound to be worth many experience points. I didn’t intend to let him slip away.

“Not so fast,” I said, shooting out his legs from under him with Mana Bolt.

He collapsed, knees broken. He spun onto his belly and pointed his handgun at me, firing two shots quickly. Deflect caught the first one. The second struck the underside of my chin. I spat it out when it struck the roof of my mouth.

“Oh god...” the man cried, a puddle of wetness forming between his legs.

I activated Surging Strength and rammed my sword through his heart.

Congratulations! You have reached level 16!

+1 all points. You have 8 free stat points to assign.

I stood over the body for a moment, listening for more gunshots. None came. Everyone else must have heeded my last victim’s advice and fled. Pity. I’d been hoping to reach level 20.

I allocated the rest of my points. Some went into Charisma to push that over 20, then the rest into luck, since I still needed my twenty attribute point skill from that ability. After I got that, I would be reliant on my class to give me any new skills I was hoping for.

+3 Charisma. +5 Luck.

Choose a Charisma Skill!

If Looks Could Kill (Common)

Those who make eye contact with you are more likely to experience extreme fear.

Gruesome Visage (Common)

Your face makes others feel as though they’ve seen a terrible monster, causing them to react accordingly.

Upgrade Fabulous Phallus (Common) to Fabulous Phallus (Rare)

Increases the appeal and desire this skill engenders on those who experience it.

If Looks Could Kill sounded like it would be situationally useful, that just wasn’t the person I wanted to be. Gruesome Visage sounded more like a curse than an ability. So, I naturally had to upgrade Fabulous Phallus. Not because I wanted to, but because I didn’t want to waste a skill slot on either of the other two abilities.

I accepted the new ability and would have done more if not for a message flashing across my System screen.

Settlement Establishment Quest: Now Entering Bonus Round!

You have survived six hours of monster attacks, but three challengers have presented themselves, all wanting rulership over this settlement.

But only one may claim ownership of the Obelisk. Fight or drive away the other challengers to complete this quest!

“Wait, three challengers?” I muttered curiously. I didn’t have time to ponder it any further, though, because my Deflect spell triggered as a bullet flew my way, followed by several more. I took a shot to the shoulder but shrugged it off. It would heal in a minute or two.

What was more important was the man who fired that bullet.

“You!” Craig shouted as he stood down the hall by the entrance to the office.

<Note>

Bit of a darker chapter. Carter’s in a bad mood.

I am a bit worried about how many skills he’s getting. We’re reaching the point where I might have a hard time remembering them all when writing. It’s probably even harder for you guys. Thankfully, most of the effects are passive, but I’m probably going to slowly rearrange Carter’s abilities over the rest of the book, bringing more of them in line with the Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge Class.

I think 15 is a good cap on the number of skills, at least at this level. Maybe I’ll force Carter to either discard a skill past that or roll the dice to combine skills with a new one he wants and accept whatever he gets. Might be able to sneak in a few special upgrades to Fabulous Phallus that way...

I think I got this chapter straightened out, but I had to shuffle a bunch of stuff around/change it because of the stat counting error last week. Let me know if anything feels out of order still.