Chapter 27: Welcome Back

I stood up. Just because I’d found the information I needed, didn’t mean I’d found everything I could. I started going room to room, searching for anything useful. On the bottom floor I found rows upon rows of computers and binders full of technical information, but all of that was beyond me.

When I moved up to the top floor again I found mostly personal belongings. The only useful thing I found was a long black garment in my size. It was like a cape with a hood, fastened by a small silver clasp. A cloak, I realized, remembering reading a description of one in a book.. After losing my duster I was in the market for a replacement. I draped it over my shoulders and started doing a final sweep of the bunker. This time I was looking for any indication that there was an alternate way in or out. Unfortunately, I had no luck. I was going to have to leave out of the front door.

I made my way to the sealed metal door, and stood with my ear to it for several minutes, but I could hear nothing through the thick metal plating. I took a deep breath, and started to open it. I moved the door back as slowly and deliberately as I could, doing my best to make as little noise as possible. When it was a few inches open I peeked outside, and saw the face of an ursan staring back at me.

The beast slammed its head through the opening, pushing the heavy metal door further open and throwing me just out of range of its massive black teeth. The creature snapped its jaws at me and tried pushing itself further in.

I drew my new sword, and gripped it with both hands. When the creature gave another lunge for me with its teeth, I took the blade and slammed it down into the beast's skull with all my strength. The monster's body shuddered, then collapsed. I took just a second to lean against the wall and breathe, recovering from the shock of the encounter.

After that I set myself to the task of getting the creature’s body out of my way. It required a lot of pulling and pushing, as well as more than little carving, but I eventually managed to squeeze out of the hole. I didn’t wait around by the corpse, or carve off any stips of meat, though I was tempted. I just moved as quickly as I could out of the cave and onto the path back to the Ren’s castle.

Standing still wasn’t an option, and neither was taking a break to scrape the blood off myself. That ursan had been waiting, patiently, the entire time I’d been in the bunker. It was the most recent in a number of interactions that showed a kind of cunning beyond what I’d expect of any animal, or even the average waster. If I took the time to rest, I’d be risking another ursan showing up, and the odds wouldn’t be in my favor as they had been with the first one.

Shay had mentioned that they’d gotten worse recently, but she hadn’t been specific. I’d assumed she meant that there were just more of them, but it looked like they’d gotten smarter than what they’d been used to as well. If they kept getting more dangerous like this than even the Ren’s with their walls and advantages wouldn’t be able to survive, and if the creatures spread outside the woods, there was no telling what kind of damage they could do.

I thought through all that as I moved. On top of everything I’d learned from the bunker, it was a lot to absorb. When I got the chance, I’d need to make a trip to Pott’s or at least pass the information along to Deux or some other Undertaker. I wasn’t sure of what the full implications of the information were, but hell, that was the Honored-Dead’s problem.

I walked without stopping for hours. Keeping my nose open for the musk of the ursans and my eyes on any landmarks I recognized. I was feeling surprisingly fresh, like I had a deep pool of energy to draw from that I was unused to. It had been almost a full day, but I wasn’t feeling like I needed to sleep, though I found myself reaching for the food in my pack more often. While I walked I decided to pull up the R.A.S. I had a notification waiting and wanted to check what progress I’d been making.

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in Investigation! Here in the US we have the right to question everything, except freedom!

That was good. Made sense with the progress I’d been making. I wished I could feel the difference like I could with the more physical skills, like shooting, but I was certain I was getting better at it. I pulled up my citizen sheet.

Citizen: Donovan

5th Level Postman/ 2nd Level Marshall

Patriot Points: 802

SPINES: Be the backbone of America!

Strength- 21

Perception- 16

Intelligence- 11

Nationalism- 3

Endurance- 23

Speed- 17

Job Abilities:

Neither Rain, Sleet, or Snow: You are unhampered by adverse weather

Express: You gain a 5% bonus to movement speed

Special Delivery: You can mark a delivery ‘special’ which will allow you to track it.

Under Cover: You may retain your previous job and those with the ability to read your sheet will see whichever job you choose to show.

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You're Under Arrest: You may temporarily remove all job based bonuses from a target to ease apprehending them.

Freeze: Incapacitate a single target for one minute

Skills:

Walking- 34

Pistol- 9

Loading/unloading- 22

Customer Service- 14

Driving- 4

Melee Weapons- 5

Long Guns- 6

Investigation- 8

Tracking- 3

Virus:

Deadman- Bonus to all physical stats +5, negative to social based skills

Natural weapon- Teeth

Night Vision

Accelerated Healing

Enhanced Stamina

Enhanced stamina? Where had that come from? I thought back, continuing to move through the black woods as I did so. The only explanation that made sense to me was the meat I’d been eating. Since I’d first bit into the ursan’s flesh I’d felt invigorated. I thought it was just bloodlust, that’s what it had always been in the past. I still wondered how the system knew what abilities the virus imbued me with. I now knew the source of the virus itself, and its purpose, but I didn’t understand how it was interacting with the R.A.S.; Maybe if I kept visiting these bunkers, I’d find the answer.

By nightfall I was close to the castle. I could smell the musk of ursans all around me, but especially concentrated around the front gate. I cursed myself for not thinking to ask someone to have a rope ready at the back wall so that I could haul myself up. I risked sneaking to the edge of the woods, and did a scan of the clearing in front of the castle.

What I saw surprised me. Dead ursans. Three of them, from what I could tell, laid dead in front of the gate. Around them were the corpses of four men, all still encased in armor. I risked approaching them more closely and could tell that they were the same men who’d left when I did to retrieve metal. They’d been torn to shreds, but from what I could tell they gave as good as they got. I wondered where the fifth one was. The battle seemed to have been recent, with the smell of blood and battle still fresh in the air.

I looked up toward the top of the wall, but saw no one there. I started circling around the building in much the same way I had when I’d first arrived. When I reached the rear of it I felt relieved. There was a rope, dangling from the wall all the way down to the ground, with no one managing it from the top. I looked around the field, and took one last deep breath, but smelled nothing dangerous. I bolted for it, grabbed hold and started hauling myself up as quickly as possible. The idea of being a defenseless snack motivated me to scale the wall faster than anything else could.

When I reached the parapet, I still saw no one. I looked down into the interior of the castle and noticed a press of bodies outside the king’s outbuilding. I found a ladder and made my way down into the courtyard. As I got closer to the large gathering of people I heard people’s voices getting louder. The people on the outside edge of the crowd jumped when they saw me, but I just kept walking, pushing my way into the center of the group and into the building.

I’d walked into the middle of a standoff. Atlan was standing on one leg, a gun held to the king’s head while she balanced by wrapping her arm around his neck, and her patrol pointing their guns at the rest of the room. On the other side of the hall, Shay, and the rangers from the walls stood with their bows drawn and aimed at the Iron Horde, with several men wielding spears and swords backing her up.

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