Broken Interface - Kernal: Post Apocalyptic Zombie LITrpg Progression Fantasy, page 29
“Speed?” Ivey asked wonderingly. “How?”
Daniel grinned and touched his shoulder.
“Ivey, meet . . .”
“Gross,” she squealed, jumping away.
“Priscilla,” he finished lamely, patting the mouse lightly on the head. The mouse preened.
Ivey took another step to increase the distance. “What is it?”
“Priscilla.” He held out a hand, palm up, and the mouse dashed to it, deviating to a spot behind him. When he looked at his hand, she held another chip. Subtly looking behind him, sure enough, on the hotel floor was the packet. She had secretly been dragging it along with them. “My pet mouse.”
“Why wouldn’t you get a dog?” Ivey asked in confusion. “Or a cat, if you’re one of those people.”
“I’m a dog person,” he said defensively.
“Thank god. But a mouse?”
“She was the most powerful creature available,” he told her, deciding to be open. “Plus, I figured I needed help with spying or battle and Priscilla is perfect at the first.”
“Why?”
Priscilla was no longer on his shoulder.
His mind triangulated where the mouse had gone.
Then he looked up in horror.
Ivey screamed. Priscilla was perched on Ivey’s shoulder, still holding the chip. “Get it off me!” She yelled and slapped at Priscilla.
The mouse was crouched on the other shoulder before the hand landed. Ivey’s eyes were filled with disgusted horror, and Priscilla was sitting comfortably, like she was in her den. She lifted the chip up to her mouth and started eating.
Daniel stifled the laugh.
Ivey slapped the new spot.
Missed.
Priscilla was suddenly on top of Ivey’s head.
Still happily crunching away.
Ivey tried to brush her away from her head, then shoulder, then out of her hair. Then squealed louder as Priscilla slipped under Ivey’s T-shirt. Ivey aggressively slapped, pushed, and attempted to dislodge her.
With no success.
Whenever she hit, she was too slow.
A smile reached his lips. Ivey’s eyes hardened, and she was looking straight at him. Her hair was completely dishevelled, and her T-shirt was pulled out of her jeans. That had been to let the mouse out.
If Priscilla had wanted to?
Priscilla, with only half the chip left, was back to eating happily on the original shoulder.
“Get—it—off—me!”
He stepped forward, half-expecting Priscilla to run, but the mouse let him scoop her up.
The door to the zombie room opened, and Dave emerged. It was still mostly dark in the corridors, even if it was getting light outside. In the shadows, Dave looked big, hairy, and dangerous.
“We will talk later,” Ivey told him frostily. “And discuss ground rules for that.” She pointed at a mouse that was radiating amused satisfaction. “Dave, Janice, it’s this way.”
She stalked off with Dave following her, his big, furry hand holding his daughter’s wrist delicately. Amazingly, the zombie patted him on the back as he passed. He had done the same thing to his mates before, when their partner had put them in the doghouse. Silent commiserations, as anything verbal would just make it worse.
Daniel watched them till they were around the corner. “That was very naughty,” he said, and then, activating Speed, he jogged to catch up. From the emotions he was receiving, Priscilla was completely unrepentant.
He caught them well before they reached room seventeen, stepping deliberately in front of the zombie or, rather, Dave.
The man, to his credit, made no aggressive movements and just pulled to a halt. “It might be better if you wait out here.”
“Raraf.”
Then a nod.
Casually, Daniel stepped back to guard the door.
“They’re awake,” he told Ivey as she brushed past and pushed into the room. Hopefully to explain the whole Dave situation. He stood next to Dave and his daughter.
“Did you have a good chat?” he asked
Nothing.
“You know I will die to protect the kids.”
“Raraf.”
“Because that is what real men do.”
“Raraf.”
“We need to get stronger.”
“Raraf.”
Daniel looked speculatively at the zombie; the noise being generated was not just roars.
“You’re not stupid, are you?”
“Raraf.” And the zombie showed his fangs.
Daniel smiled and turned away.
“Dave?” he called out. The zombie looked up from where he had knelt to hug his daughter. Because why not? “Be careful about smiling too much.” Daniel tapped his own teeth. “Fangs and all.”
Dave smiled at him, a broad grin that showed off all those sharp teeth. Then the mouth snapped shut, and the zombie winked.
Then Dave’s attention returned one hundred percent to his daughter. Daniel walked into their rooms, and despite them being fresh yesterday and the holes to the outside he had created, there was a slight smell of too many unwashed people.
Chapter 37
They had raided a lot of mini-bars the night before, so there was as much food as he needed. Admittedly, just muesli bars and packets of nuts, unless you wanted to get into the confectionary. Ivey joined him, and relatively soon, all the adults were gathered around him as they ate.
Animal Sense.
The ability swept the floor, and he stood immediately.
“What?”
“The girls in room thirty-five are up and about.” The tension drained out of everyone present.
“Do you want me to go?” Ivey asked.
Daniel hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Probably.”
“I’ll bring them back here, and we can plan.” She patted him on the back, and he opened a packet of chips absently and then just left it on the floor. A moment later, Priscilla was on his shoulder, nibbling.
“You eat. You’re going to need your energy,” he told Priscilla quietly, imagining the mouse exploring the different floors and scouting the zombies in person. Plus, unlike him, he was sure Priscilla could get an accurate read on their abilities.
“Ohh.” He looked up to see Tamara staring in fascination at the mouse. “So cute.”
Daniel found himself smiling back at the girl. “She’s amazing,” he agreed.
“I swear, you’re a hippy,” Jayden said to Tamara. “It’s a dirty rodent.”
“Priscilla is going to be our scout,” Daniel said evenly, deciding to ignore the other man.
“Can I hold her?” asked Tamara.
“Of course.”
She went to lean forward to grab the mouse, but Priscilla was gone from his shoulder. Daniel could sense that she was in the chip packet, probably trying to work out which was the largest one.
“What?” Tamara asked in confusion.
“She’s fast. Hold out your hand.”
Tamara giggled. “That tickled.”
Priscilla was in her palm, busily chomping away. Tamara carefully patted the mouse’s head, and he could feel the animal’s satisfaction.
“She likes you,” Daniel confessed, and given his mana was full, he activated Animal Sense, checking both their floor and the levels on either side. The zombies below were wandering aimlessly, and he wondered how long it would be till they found some humans, and whether the reinforced doors would be as effective as he hoped.
He finished his pack of nuts and then looked in the mouse’s snack bag and was not surprised to find her bag completely empty as well.
“I know you’ve been hiding them,” he told the mouse, having felt the multiple lightning-fast trips under the bed.
“What?”
Daniel showed her the empty chip packets. “This was hers.” Priscilla, deliberately not using her super-speed, had scampered over to another full packet of plain potato chips and was trying to open the packet. “The rest she hid over there.” He nodded over to his bed.
“How?”
“She’s extremely quick.”
The door opened. Dave was standing there with Janice in front of him. He rested those fearsome claws lightly on her shoulders, just like most dads seemed to do when introducing their kid to a new group. There was demonstrably a man underneath all that fur.
Jayden launched himself to his feet, grabbing the wooden sword.
Cursing internally, Daniel sped up and stood quickly and shifted to be between Jayden and the mutated human. “Dave,” he greeted simply.
There was a sharp intake of breath behind. It was Jayden, but Daniel was not sure if it was at how fast he had moved or still directed at the zombie.
“Come in,” Daniel finished, waving the man forward.
“No,” Jayden blustered. “We have kids here.”
Daniel hated to do it, but ground rules were necessary, and frankly, the sourpuss had it coming.
He engaged Speed, spun around, and used his club one-handed to knock the sword, striking it with a touch of his growth power to cause it to break and add extra oomph to his move. Shock and awe tactics.
With his free hand, he grabbed Jayden’s neck.
As far as Jayden was concerned, between one moment and the next, his weapon was broken, knocked clear of his hand, and then Daniel had a hand on his neck. Daniel, the man who had almost single-handedly defeated the massive feral mutated human.
They made eye contact, and Daniel smiled. Panic flared across Jayden’s face, and then Daniel activated the Strength ability.
Energy seemed to flood through him, boosting all his muscles and joints, he noticed. Still smiling, he used the flood of Strength that made him stronger than the weightlifters in the Olympics to, with a simple flex, lift the helpless man with one hand. It was like he weighed almost nothing, and Daniel equally effortlessly pressed Jayden back into the wall.
“We’re one team,” he said quietly. He had intended to lift him further to make his dominance clear and scare him, but Daniel felt the Strength he had summoned drain away.
He released Jayden casually so that he fell to ground. Everyone watching hopefully thought it was a deliberate attempt to humiliate the other man. It was not. His body had just betrayed him. Turning casually, he moved toward the dropped sword while praying that the weakness afflicting him was not showing in his movement.
“What the fuck?” Jayden snarled.
“Language, there are kids,” Tamara snapped, surprising Daniel; he would have thought her default would have been to protect her boyfriend.
“He just manhandled me, and . . .”
“Dave is part of our team,” Daniel continued calmly; his voice forced louder due to how hard it was to moderate his breathing.
“And I warned you,” Ivey said from behind Dave.
She was back!
It felt too fast, but maybe she had met them on the way, or she had been delaying and had heard the commotion and decided she was needed here.
Concern radiated from Priscilla, and Daniel knew he had badly over-extended with the strength flourish.
“We’re one team,” he snapped, almost stumbling but using the broken sword as an excuse to sit quickly on the ground. “Let me fix this.”
The burst of Strength had been way too much. Intoxicating, for sure, but it had overtaxed him, and he would need to restrict himself to using it as a finishing move.
“I don’t want a shitty weapon that breaks that easily.”
“It’s not for you,” he said absently, still focusing on his breathing, attempting to act normal. “Dave, Janice, come in, you must be hungry,” he called out, looking down because he suddenly lacked the strength to even lift his head. If he had done that early in the battle, it would have cost them everything.
“Raraf,” the zombie said.
Daniel was pretty sure that meant yes or agreement or something like that. A positive affirmation. Priscilla surprised him by sharing an image of the big, mutated human’s head nodding.
He sank his power into the broken blade.
“Surely you will not arm that monster. It’s feral; it will chew your face off.”
“Dave’s not feral,” Ivey snapped.
“Do we need to go another round?” Daniel asked, forcing his head to look up and make eye contact. He knew the type of man Jayden was, and if he spotted weakness, he would feast. What he could not understand was why Tamara was with him. So far, she had been amazing, while Jayden had been a deuce.
“No, if he’s part of the team, I can live with that. I’m just warning you.”
“RAARAGH.”
Jayden was the only one in the room who jumped, but the baby next door started crying.
“Dave, was that really necessary?” Ivey said, pushing past the furry human. “Trudy, it’s okay,” she called into the other room, “and Dave is sorry.”
The big beast was nodding vigorously.
“Girls, I think it’s safe, just some misplaced testosterone.” Ivey’s eyes fell on Daniel, and he could see the concern in them. He might have been able to fool Jayden, but Ivey had seen straight through the attempt. Perfectly in the nurse character, she stepped between him and the other man, and then the spell flew from her hands to heal the man’s neck.
Daniel kept his head down, apparently focusing on the broken weapon, but Priscilla supplied the vision without him asking. The dark bruises receded, which Daniel knew was necessary for team cohesion, but . . . he would still have the memories of the man’s eyes bulging when he had lifted him effortlessly.
Not that effortlessly – the Strength skill apparently borrowed from the future. Then Ivey was sitting next to him, leaning forward to give a kiss on his cheek.
Healing magic flowed from the hand on his back where no one could see it. The healing did nothing, as his weakness was not of the sort that could be fixed with magic, but the gesture was more than appreciated.
“You okay?” she whispered in his ear. He nodded.
“Over-use backlash,” he explained just as softly, still lacking the strength to look up easily, but in all honesty, he did not need to as he had a perfect view of the room from where Priscilla had moved to perch herself on top of the closest bed cocoon. Sharing vision felt so natural, and it was amazing how clear it was.
Dave walked all the way into the room, positioning himself to Daniel’s right. Each step was a solid thud. Not only was the monstrous body heavy, it looked to Daniel that the movement mechanics had changed, and Dave had probably not learned how to walk softly. He could see the inhuman head looming over his own body from where the mouse perched. Through the door, two women entered. They were hotel staff, still in their cleaning uniforms. They had probably been cleaning a room when the event happened.
Ivey jumped up. “Come in, come in. This is Aisha,” Ivey said, presenting a thin, middle-aged woman with sharp, Arabic features. “And this Hua Chua,” she finished, pulling forward a slightly plump Chinese woman, younger but still on the wrong side of thirty.
“Welcome,” Tamara said genuinely. “I think we are about to have a council of war.”
“We not fighters,” Hua Chua said. She pointed at Aisha. “Aisha is a leatherworker, and I, a magic cleaner.”
Tamara sagged slightly at the news, having been—like all of them—hoping for extra fighting classes.
“That’s okay,” Ivey said, keeping her voice bright. “Once we’ve beaten the monsters, we are going to need all types in society.”
“Absolutely,” Tamara agreed, having recovered. “So, we only have four of us who can fight?”
Ivey gave Jayden a long stare. “Yes,” she finally answered. “You, me, Dave, and Daniel.”
Her gaze was still drilling into Jayden. Daniel could have kissed her.
Some of the incapacitating exhaustion was fading. “What about . . . ?” He waved at Jayden just to stir the point further.
“I can swing a sword as good as anyone,” Jayden agreed with a lack of enthusiasm.
“He has an actor class,” Tamara told them.
“Why would someone choose that?” Daniel asked before cursing himself for being so pushy. It was really none of his business, and he had taken enough cheap shots for the day. If only the man did not irritate him so much.
“Because it got offered, and I could do my stuff even better now.”
Daniel looked at him in a more objective light. Jayden was a pretty boy and looked sort of familiar.
“You were an actor?”
“I starred in King Claimant.”
“And you thought that . . .”
“Daniel!” Ivey’s voice was scathing. He wondered if he should push it. From what he understood, everyone who got an interface had received the apocalypse warning. Why would anyone choose an acting class? Ivey was glaring at him.
“What skills do you have?” he asked anyway.
“Daniel,” Ivey said warningly.
“Yes?” He looked innocently up at others. He did not like the payback that he could see in Ivey’s eyes.
“At least in an Armageddon, he did not willingly choose to have a mouse for a pet,” Ivey said, barely holding back a smile.
Tamara laughed, and even Dave made a sound like he was choking.
Ouch!
Chapter 38
Trudy came into the room, followed by the older lady. If Daniel was successful in saving the groups downstairs, he knew he would struggle with their names. Keeping the community together threatened to be difficult if they were going to survive this. It would be his job to fight the monsters, and someone else would have to keep all the social stuff going. Elaine. He remembered her name. You would think given the link, Anthony, it would be impossible to forget, but apparent trauma did not sear useless information automatically into your brain. Elaine. He repeated the name in his head in the hope it would stick.
“Okay. We know we can’t sit and do nothing,” Ivey said loudly. “That way is death. At a minimum, we need to escape, so we are here to discuss next steps.”
“That’s my cue,” Daniel said to himself before standing up. “Knowledge is king, and I’ve three ways to scout.” He touched the cocoon, and his hand glowed briefly. “I can put roots in the walls and use the plants’ sensitivity to vibrations to check what is happening in a room. Then I have an Animal Sense spell that allows me to scan a floor for non-plant life, and finally . . .” He held out a hand and sent out a request. Priscilla appeared with a chip in her paws, having detoured via her stash. “Finally, there is Priscilla. She can scout everywhere. I’m not sure what we want to do long-term, but our short-term objectives are to save as many humans as possible. Because the more fighters we get, the more we can meet the threats out there.” He deliberately pointed out the window.
