Chapter 35: The situation (1)
"George knows this area better than anyone. He’s resourceful. Good with his hands. We need people like him."
Kate stood and moved to a supply crate. She pulled out a map of the city, unfolding it on the table. Red X marks covered various locations. Circles showed safe zones. Lines showed patrol routes.
"This is our situation," Malcolm said, pointing at the map. "We hold this department store and eight other buildings around the city. They’re not all fully secure yet, but they give us places to rest and resupply when we’re hunting. Everything else out there belongs to the monsters."
The map showed just how bad things were. Malcolm’s safe zones were like tiny islands in a sea of danger, connected by thin patrol routes. Most of the city was still a mystery—full of threats they hadn’t even seen yet.
"Kate told you about the major quests from the Vendor," Malcolm said. "What she likely didn’t explain is how they connect. Each problem feeds into the others, creating a cycle we can’t break."
Reidar and the others were confused by Malcolm’s sudden change of topic and attitude. But it also said two things. The first was that he was so good with words and had such an imposing aura that he could dismiss the previous conversation as if it had never happened, and that wasn’t something everyone could do.
The second was that he was more practical than Reidar assumed, and for sure he was smarter than he looked. Instead of making trouble, he simply talked as if Reidar and his group were already part of the settlement.
It was pretty simple, really. Reidar was a threat to him. Malcolm had power here, but ever since levels showed up, it was obvious you could only hold onto it if you were strong enough to keep it. Reidar could change all that in a second. If he wanted, he could wipe them all out and take over this place himself.
Malcolm knew that. He was smart enough not to pick a fight with Reidar right now and smart enough not to plan anything behind his back, at least for the moment.
<Only time will tell...>
Malcolm’s finger traced a route from their current location to a large building marked with a medical cross. "The hospital. Level eighteen Behemoth made its nest there. Regeneration abilities mean conventional attacks won’t work. We tried once. Lost three people and barely escaped."
<I wonder if ’Conventional Attacks’ also mean skills, but I doubt they have them yet.>
Based on what Reidar saw. Most people used bows here. It was safer to hunt this way, but Reidar wasn’t sure it was the best choice in all situations.
He paused, his expression darkening. "The hospital holds the medical supplies for this entire region. Antibiotics, surgical equipment, painkillers, and bandages. Everything we need to treat injuries."
Malcolm held up his bandaged hand. "This wound should have been stitched properly with sterile equipment. Instead, we used fishing line and hoped for the best. Infection could kill me as easily as any monster."
The reality hit the group. Modern medicine had become a luxury.
"The Vendor sells health potions," Kate said. "But they cost more Survival Points than we can earn. We’re trapped in a loop. We need to hunt monsters to get points, but hunting leads to injuries. Injuries require healing items, which drain our resources. It should level the field in the long run, since we get stronger, but we have little time."
Kate traced another route on the map, this one leading to a smaller building marked with a school symbol. "The Middle school. Fifty survivors have been trapped there for 12 days now, and based on our estimations, their food supplies should have almost been consumed."
"Kids?" Sarah asked.
"Mostly," Kate said. "Some teachers, a few parents who were there for conferences when everything started. But yes, children. Ages 11 to 13. The fact is that, while they are young, they can still help us."
"They are young," Malcolm said, "But not so young that we need to keep them inside at all times. Even if we do, they can help us in many ways. Sorting supplies, organizing inventory, even basic first aid—tasks that eat up our time but don’t require brute strength, and that is just one to name. There are more things they can do, and that if they learn will increase their chances of survival in the long run."
Malcolm’s voice grew heavier. "Regardless, twenty-three of my people have family in that school. Children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews. Every day those kids remain trapped; morale here drops lower."
"Are the other kids’ parents...?" George already knew the answer.
"Yes. They died during the first day. They were outside when they fell asleep, and well... monsters..."
A brief silence ensued. George studied the map. "What’s blocking the rescue? Is it just the Rift-Sprites?"
"Rift-Sprite nest, to be precise," Malcolm said. "They’ve established a breeding ground on the playground and surrounding buildings. The initial count was maybe thirty sprites. Now it’s closer to a thousand, and it’s growing daily. Their numbers got out of hand before we could even sort out how to kill them."
The longer they waited, the stronger the nest became.
"We tried to break through twice," Kate said. "And lost six people on the first attempt. During the second try, we couldn’t even get close given how many they became."
Reidar and the others nodded.
Malcolm moved his finger to different areas of the map. "Resource depletion. When this started, we had food and supplies from the store. Now those are almost gone. We send scavenging teams to nearby buildings, but the safe radius keeps shrinking because of the many Rift-Sprites coming from the nest."
He paused. "You see, the nest is a breeding ground, but the Rift-Sprites don’t always stay there. They roam the city, making it impossible for us to even go searching around. We need to move carefully, and we mostly kill the few stragglers that we find."
"How are you tackling this?" Reidar asked. "We use our bows," Malcolm said. "But as you can imagine, no one, aside from me, knows how to properly aim. This is not the only problem. The people are scared to get close, so when they fail at killing the monsters from a distance, they run."