Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 37 (Patreon)

Sakura was the first to wake after our little nap, and she shook me awake with her eyes sparkling with excitement and her ponytail swishing behind her. "Carter, let's go exploring again! I want to regain my lost levels and get back to searching for my father."

I scratched my chin thoughtfully before agreeing. "Alright, but we'll need a ride. I've got another car in the garage."

Her eyes widened with anticipation, but as we stepped into the garage, her enthusiasm deflated like a punctured balloon. Parked before her was a jeep, but not just any jeep. It was the oldest, rustiest jeep she had ever laid eyes on. The chipped paint and grime-streaked windows seemed to mock her, and I smirked as I watched the grin fall from her lips.

"You've got to be kidding me. This thing looks like it could fall apart any second," she complained, eyeing the ancient vehicle warily.

I chuckled and patted the jeep's hood reassuringly, feeling the rough metal under my palm. "Trust me, it's fine. Sure, it hasn't been road legal for ten years, but I welded some stainless steel bars in place to hold the frame together. The body might be falling apart, but the rest of the car will hold up just fine."

Sakura shook her head, still skeptical, but climbed into the passenger seat nonetheless. The worn leather creaked beneath her as she settled in, and she couldn't help but grumble about the lack of heated seats.

"I miss my car," she sighed, crossing her arms.

As we prepared to leave, Sakura tried to roll down the window, her fingers fumbling around the door in search of the button. She looked at me, puzzled. "Where's the window button?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "This car isn't new enough for that. You'll have to roll it down by hand."

She groaned and begrudgingly cranked the window down, the metal handle cold and stiff in her grip. "This car is ancient! How does it even still run?"

I grinned, turning the key in the ignition. The jeep roared to life, its engine rumbling like a beast from a bygone era. The scent of gasoline and age filled the air. "She may not be pretty, but she's all we've got. Besides, look at all this fresh air we've got! It's like having a sunroof in all directions!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'll take a regular sunroof, thank you very much."

With that, the old jeep carried us forward into the unknown, its tires crunching on gravel as we left the garage behind.

Sakura and I drove across the road, making our way through the valley. The terrain was steep, but during our scouting, we had discovered a better path down the mountain. To my surprise, it was even paved, although I couldn't fathom where the System had taken the road from.

As we descended the mountain, the landscape unfurled before us, a tapestry of greenery, rocky outcroppings, and sparkling streams. The wind whipped through our hair, carrying the scents of damp earth and pine. The jeep's engine hummed, a steady rhythm accompanying our journey.

Hours passed, and we stopped a few times to confront minor monsters. Our first encounter was with a pack of snarling Razorhounds. Their fur bristled with electric energy as they lunged at us.

Razorhounds (Level 16)

"Careful, Sakura!" I called out, dodging one of the creatures as it snapped at me. "These things have quite the set of teeth on them!"

She grinned back, brandishing her baseball bat, its surface studded with sharp nails. "Got it! Let's see how they like a taste of my club!"

Sakura charged into the fray, swinging her improvised weapon with surprising agility for its size. The bat connected with a satisfying crunch, sending a Razorhound flying into a nearby tree. The remaining hounds howled and regrouped, their eyes blazing with fury as they circled us.

We fought on, our backs pressed together, forming an impenetrable wall against the onslaught. I hurled bolts of arcane energy, while Sakura cracked bones with her brutal club. The battle was intense, our breathing labored, but we eventually emerged victorious, standing amidst the defeated Razorhounds.

As we engaged in more tough battles, such as facing off against a gigantic Crystal Scorpion with a deadly stinger and a swarm of winged, venomous Drakewasps, Sakura regained one of the levels she had lost and quickly approached her former strength.

“Whohoo! Level 15… again!” Sakura pumped her fist and cheered. “Almost back to where I was. And this time I’ve got a few extra stacks of bonus stats from your magic dick.” She bumped me in the side with an elbow.

“Congratulations,” I chuckled. I rolled my eyes, but I truly did feel happy for her.

The life-detecting bracelets I had crafted served us well with each encounter, emitting a soft glow whenever we neared a monster. Then made me feel far safer than I had on the way to my farmhouse. With them detecting nearby monsters constantly, it would be a lot harder to get ambushed.

It felt like we were making good progress, but then we reached the edge of the world.

As our jeep rolled to a stop, we found ourselves facing an invisible barrier. We could go no further. The System displayed a warning message in the air, informing us that we had reached the limits of our exploration.

WARNING: You have reached the edge of your shard.

You may not travel off your shard until the initial stages of integration is complete.

The initial stages of integration will not be complete until a clear victor has emerged from the existing factions grafted onto this shard already.

Currently, the balance between all five factions is: Evenly Matched.

Unauthorized attempts to breach the barrier will not succeed.

Sakura's face contorted with anger and despair, her fists clenching in frustration. "What the hell is this? How are we supposed to leave Crownhill?"

She bashed the shimmering barrier with her club. It struck the energy wall and sent ripples in all directions, like a pebble dropped into a still pond. Sakura moved to strike the barrier again, but with the warning the System put up I thought that might be a bad idea, and I grabbed her arm to calm her down.

"We'll find a way, Sakura."

“Yeah… you’re right, Carter.” She let her club arm fall and rested her forehead on my chest. “I'm just... worried about my dad. He's probably worried sick about me right now too."

I patted her on the head. “There there. We haven’t given up now, have we?”

Sakura sniffled a few times as I comforted her, holding back tears. She really did want to find her father.

We got back in the jeep, though it was some time before we were ready to move again. I waited for Sakura to be ready. Eventually, she gathered herself.

“Alright, Carter. If the System says we need to win its little game, then that’s just what we’ll do! Let’s hunt down the remaining other-worlders and kick their asses! The goblins went down easily enough. The rest can’t be too hard, can it?”

I grinned, glad to see her boisterous mood restored.

“On the hunt we go!” I twisted my key and the engine roared to life beneath us once again.

***

As we continued our journey, driving along the winding roads and through dense forests, we couldn't help but notice the eerie quietness that had settled over the landscape. No monsters lurked in the shadows or leaped out from behind the trees. It was as if they had all vanished into thin air.

Suddenly, the life-detecting bracelets I had crafted began to pulse with a bright glow, indicating the presence of something powerful nearby. We exchanged wary glances, our hearts pounding in anticipation.

As we rounded a bend, our eyes widened at the sight before us. There, standing in the middle of the road, was an enormous humanoid creature.

It stood at least ten feet tall, with skin that was a sickly shade of green, crisscrossed by an intricate network of dark veins. Its arms were thick, knotted with muscles, and ended in large, clawed hands. The ogre's face was a hideous sight – bulbous, bloodshot eyes, a flat, upturned nose, and a wide, drooling mouth filled with razor-sharp, yellowed teeth.

It wore tattered, makeshift armor, crafted from what appeared to be the hides and bones of various creatures, and carried a massive club in one hand, studded with sharp, jagged rocks. The air around the ogre seemed to shimmer with a barely contained energy, hinting at the immense power hidden within its hulking frame.

I quickly activated my Examine skill on the creature, and the System provided me with information about our adversary.

Ogre (Level 19)

"An Ogre," I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for Sakura to hear.

"Hey, Ogre!" Sakura shouted, clearly missing my attempt at stealth. "Are you a monster or can you actually think?"

The ogre looked at her with a dumbfounded expression, and then a slow grin spread across its ugly face. "You big ugly rat with twig. Me bash bash!" it bellowed, hoisting its massive club up in a threatening manner, dwarfing Sakura's own weapon.

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and she lifted her own club in response, accepting the challenge. "Let's see who's better at bashing, then!" she shouted, charging forward with a battle cry.

I sighed. I should have known this was going to happen. Ever since becoming an oni, Sakura had turned into a bit of a meat head whenever she got her blood pumping. Now that she was face to face with an even bigger meat head, of course they had to fight it out.

As the ogre lunged towards Sakura, she expertly dodged its powerful swings while landing her own blows. With every swing of her club, the sound of metal nails biting into the ogre's thick hide filled the air, accompanied by its furious roars. Sakura was landing a lot of blows and staying out of range of the ogres. Between the two, she was visibly faster, but I was still worried.

This ogre was slow, stupid, ugly, and pretty unobservant, considering it hadn't spotted us until Sakura shouted at it. If it had agility, intelligence, charisma, and perception as its dump stats, the only thing left to put points into was vitality and strength. Which was exactly what looked to be this ogre's strong points.

I supported her from a distance, hurling Mana Bolts and Eldritch Blasts at the ogre. The magical energy crackled and sizzled as it struck the creature, tearing through its skin and leaving smoldering wounds in its wake. It reeled from the impacts but shrugged off the damage I was dealing and continued to swing its enormous club.

Sakura, in turn, continued her dance of death, evading the ogre's increasingly frenzied attacks. She leapt over its sweeping club, ducked under its massive fist, and rolled to the side just in time to avoid being crushed by its colossal foot.

Despite our combined damage, the ogre seemed to be growing stronger and more ferocious, as if fueled by its own pain and anger. It let out a deafening roar and charged at Sakura, its massive club raised high above its head, intent on bringing it down upon her.

I gathered what power I could and shot an Eldrich Blast directly into the ogre's exposed face. That threw it off for just a moment, long enough for Sakura to roll to the side. The club missed her by mere inches.

Seizing the opportunity, she lunged forward and swung her club with all her might, striking the ogre squarely on the side of its head. The sickening crunch of bone and the guttural groan of the creature signaled its imminent demise. It toppled to the ground, lifeless, as we finally caught our breath.

Ogre slain!

“Whew, this big guy was pretty tough,” I said, wiping sweat from my brow. I'd held back my full arsenal of abilities for this fight, since there was no need to dip into Mania for something I outleveled, and I needed to get used to dodging more in combat. Still, those few limitations had been enough to make it a long fight. “Tougher than Gobgob’s entire tribe put together.”

Sakura was even more exhausted than I was, and she sagged as she leaned on her club.

“Take that, you ugly lug. Size doesn’t always matter. My club may be smaller, but it’s way better!” Sakura taunted the dead ogre between shallow quick breaths.

We barely had a moment to recover before a distant bellow of rage sounded through the area.

As we stood there, panting and trying to make sense of the bellow, we exchanged puzzled glances. We didn't have to wait long for an answer, though, as the unmistakable sound of dozens of ogre voices shouting in the distance reached our ears. Fear and adrenaline coursed through our veins as we realized that a horde of them was heading straight for us.

I quickly scanned the approaching group, using my examine skill on each one. My heart raced as I spotted another ogre, this one at level twenty. As I continued to assess the situation, I realized that several more were in their twenties. These guys were way stronger than goblins, and it looked like there were just as many of them.

Perhaps humanity wouldn’t be winning the battle for this shard as easily as I thought.

Sakura and I shared a look of concern, knowing that we were facing a much more formidable challenge than the one we'd just overcome. We braced ourselves, preparing to face this oncoming horde with all our might, as the thundering footsteps and guttural war cries of the ogres grew louder and more menacing.

Sakura and I exchanged a determined glance, knowing we had to make a break for the jeep before the ogres could completely surround us. We sprinted towards the rusty vehicle, adrenaline pumping through our veins, as the guttural war cries of the ogres grew louder.

As we neared the jeep, the ogres gained on us, their thundering footsteps closing the distance between us. We managed to hop into the vehicle just as the first of the ogres reached us. With a nervous laugh, I turned the ignition and the engine roared to life.

The ogres, now surrounding the car, tried to tear the frame apart with their thick, calloused fingers. Their muscles bulged, and veins popped as they strained to rip apart the jeep. The metallic groans and screeches from their efforts sent shivers down my spine, but they made little progress. I’d worked hard welding this beast back together again after the rust killed her.

I fired off a few Mana Bolts to keep the ogres from sticking their hands through the open windows, and they gathered around the front and back of the jeep. Despite my efforts, their leathery hides were so thick that my attacks were little more than bee stings. I didn’t dare use Blood Sacrifice or any of my deadlier abilities considering how much more health than me they had. But at the same time, I wasn't ready to abandon yet another car and flee on foot again with Sakura. But we did need to get out of here before we were surrounded.

So I slammed the gas pedal, the tires spinning in place for a moment before gaining traction. The jeep lunged forward, catching an ogre off-guard and pinning him between the vehicle and a tree. The sickening crunch of bones and the agonized roar of the ogre momentarily halted the others' assault.

I turned and continued to floor the accelerator, leaving the pinned ogre behind as we raced through the forest. The other ogres pursued us, their enraged roars echoing through the trees.

“These guys are tough!” I yelled over the whipping wind.

“There’s another one up ahead!” Sakura yelled. She stood up in her seat. I spotted the ogre running for us, this one more agile than most of its kin and coming at us from another direction.

The ogre charged, bellowing loudly with thick arms extended. Sakura stood and held her club back like a baseball bat. Just as the ogre was about to land on top of our car, I swerved around him.

Sakura, gripping her spiked club tightly, swung it like a baseball bat and swatted them in the head as we drove by. The sound of the club connecting with their thick skulls echoed through the air, and a vicious grin spread across Sakura’s face.

“Bet you won’t make fun of my club size now!” she shouted to the ogres slowly falling behind us.

I fired off spells, Mana Bolts and Eldritch Blasts flying from my fingertips, making fools of the entire ogre tribe as they chased us angrily. We weaved through the trees, narrowly dodging branches and debris, the ogres hot on our trail.

Sakura looked at me, her eyes wide with amazement as we continued to speed through the forest, leaving the ogre tribe behind us. She let out an impressed laugh, "Okay, I'll give you this one. This ancient rustbucket is stronger than it looks."

As the adrenaline began to wear off and our breathing steadied, we debated our options. That was closer than we’d come to the edge since the fight with the rat matriarch.

“Those guys really were tough, Carter.” Sakura shook her head in wonder.

“Fighting one of them was hard, and from the looks of things, there were a lot more back in that camp.” I shook my head. It made me nervous to have a hostile force of such scale so close to the farmhouse. When they put their minds to it, those big guys could really run. They did so in great leaping bounds that reminded me of how Sakura sometimes ran. It was more jumping than sprinting and relied much more on the strength stat than the agility stat.

I’d gained a little hope for humanity when I saw we were up against goblins. Humans had those little green guys beat by every physical metric.

But those ogres? They had us humans beat by just as wide a margin as we had over the goblins, except for intelligence and numbers. If a group of ogres like the ones we’d seen stumbled into Crownhill, our hometown would be in trouble. I said as much to Sakura.

"Those ogres are dangerous," I said, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "And they seemed way more hostile than the goblins. We don't even know how territorial they are or how long it'll be before they come after us."

Sakura gave me a tense smile, "Well, at least we gave them a good smack on the head. But you're right, we need to warn Crownhill and find a way to protect the farmhouse too."

“We should head there now to warn them. It’s been a few days, and it’ll be nice to stop by and see if Bridget’s healed,” I suggested.

Sakura crossed her arms. “I’ll check on Bridget. You can check on Frank and Marcus.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, fine. I just want to make sure the people in town are safe.”

A moment of tense silence passed between us.

"We'll figure something out, Carter," Sakura said, her voice confident. "We've faced worse, right? We just need a solid plan and unbeatable teamwork."

She held up her hand, clearly waiting for a high five. I gave her one.

“You’re right, Sakura. We just need a few more levels under our belt.”

But worry still needled at my gut. After all, if we could gain levels, so could the ogres.

<Author's Note>

Alright, I've been playing a bit of Honkai: Star Rail lately, and it kinda makes me want to add ultimate abilities to this story. Currently, I'm thinking I'll tie them into the party interface, so maybe they only exist when you're in a party. Maybe Carter can win a title or level something up to get it. I think it'll be fun and make grouping up into a party feel a little more impactful, since everybody will get a cool battle-shifting ultimate ability.

I'm still working out how to implement it though, and what Carter and Sakura's abilities will be.