“What did you do to that squirrel? Was that a spell?” Kent grilled her once Jill made eye contact.
Jill’s cheeks turned red and she looked down. “It’s called Ice Shard. It’s my first class skill.”
“It was awesome! If I hadn't seen it I wouldn’t believe it!” Kent’s excitement was contagious soon everyone was talking excitedly about class skills and magic.
With Tami’s healing and now Jill’s ice magic Kent was a little overbearing as he continued to drill Jill about her magic. Bob had to step in and calm Kent down so they could talk about what needed to be done now that everyone had gathered.
As the conversation turned more serious Bob thought it would be good to check out the ranger’s station. It was a little ways away from the campground hidden in the trees. Bob hoped that the ranger was holed up in there and he could lead them to safety.
They decided to have George, Jill, Alice, and Dave go check it out. The rest would stay close to help Tami and defend if anything decided to attack.
Minutes dragged into an hour as they waited for them to return. When George and the others came back, grim-faced. “We found eight more dead... two of them children,” George said quietly. He explained that it looked like a family had tried to escape in their car, but the vehicle wouldn’t start, and the squirrels got to them.
“How do you know the car wouldn’t start?” Bob asked, catching onto that detail.
“We tried every car we could find keys for,” George said. “None of them even turned over.” Doesn’t look like we’ll be driving out of here.”
It was a harsh confirmation. Maybe there was still something useful to be found in the vehicles but it wasn’t looking good.
“What about the ranger’s station?” Blake questioned.
“The ranger’s dead.” George looked crestfallen.
Bob stared out at the campground. The news of the ranger’s death hit him hard.
No one spoke for a long moment. The wind stirred through the trees, rustling the torn tarps and fluttering the sheets hanging by the injured. The campground should have been a place of refuge. But all Bob could see now were signs of collapse.
“He had a gun,” George added, quieter now. “Shot six of them before they tore him apart. Don’t know how we didn’t hear the shots.”
“Did you find a radio or walkie-talkie?” Kent asked, his voice thin with hope.
George shook his head. “Place was wrecked. Looked like he tried to hold out. But we couldn’t find anything useful.”
Dave stepped in, his jaw tight. “There was a shortwave setup, but it was smashed. Probably broken while he was fighting for his life.”
That last thought sat heavily with them. For the first time, Bob noticed the other survivors nearby silent, watching. Some had bandaged limbs, others were clutching each other like the world might vanish if they let go. They had all heard. They were all waiting, not just for help, but for . For .
“We’re trapped,” Blake said, not cruelly, but plainly. “No working cars. No phones. No ranger. No way to even know if help is coming.”
“How far is town on foot?” Alice asked.
“Too far,” Kent answered. “Twenty miles, maybe more. If it is like the when we headed to the other cabins the distance could be huge. We don’t even know if it’s safe.”
“And if what is happening is not just here?” Tami’s voice was soft, but it carried. She didn’t look up from where she was tending to a wounded man. “If it is happening everywhere?”
That thought clawed into them like the chipmunks had into the cars around them. No one responded.
Bob rubbed his face, sweat and dirt streaking his hand.
He looked around at the crowd, parents, teenagers, tourists, all eyes on them searching for hope.
Barely audible Jill whispered, “What do we do now?”
“I don’t think we can wait here much longer,” Kent finally said. “We don’t know when, or if, more of those things will show up. Maybe even something worse.”
“Do we split up?” Dave offered. “Some stay and guard the injured, others scout for supplies? Try to find a radio, another weapon, anything?”
Blake suggested they should gather everything they could from the campground and start hiking home, while George thought returning to the cabin was a better plan. Neither had a clear idea of what to do with the campers they had helped.
Bob looked at them all. Then finally spoke. “Okay… we need to figure out what we do next but it has to include everyone.” He gestured at the survivors around them.
Heads turned. No one spoke.
“I should’ve thought of it sooner,” he continued, voice low but steady. “People are changing. Skills, powers, classes. We’ve all seen it now. But we’re still acting like this is just a really bad camping trip.”
He looked around, meeting their eyes one by one. “It’s not. This is something else now. And if someone out there has a skill that could save a life… and we don’t know about it? That’s on us. That’s on me.”
Kent shifted. “You’re not wrong. But we were all just trying to survive.”
“I know,” Bob said. “But this can't be reactive anymore. We need to be ready. We need to know who can do what. What fighting skills, healing, anything. Even weird stuff. The system is giving us tools. We have to start using them if we want to survive.”
Tami glanced down at her hands. “I didn’t even know if Minor Mend would work until I tried. If Bob hadn’t been bleeding out in front of me, I might not have used it at all.”
“And you saved my life,” Bob said. “That’s the point. We can’t wait until someone’s dying to figure this stuff out.”
Jill stepped forward. “So, what? You want to take inventory? Go around asking people what they picked in the weird void?”
Bob gave a faint nod. “Yeah. Maybe it’s awkward. But it might save someone next time.”
George folded his arms. “We gonna do it now?”
“We should,” Bob said. “Before more fighting. Before it’s too late.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Bob broke the silence. “Alright. I’ll go first. I picked Priest. I picked it because it matched my stats the best.” Shrugging he continued. “I picked Smite. It is supposed to be a magic attack based on faith. I have no idea what faith it means though, which is why I have never used it.”
Kent grinned. “Didn’t see that coming. With that sledgehammer I had you pegged as a Warrior like me.”
One by one, the others started chiming in. Slowly. Hesitantly. But it was a start.
Bob exhaled, a bit of the weight lifting. It wasn’t everything. But it was something.
He wasn’t ready. He didn’t want it. But forty people were staring at him like he had answers. And maybe... that meant he didn’t need to have all the answers. Just enough to keep them hoping.
Talking to the campers was harder than Bob expected. The language barriers were real. He thought he heard German, Japanese, French, and Spanish. He knew just enough Spanish to get himself in trouble, but fortunately, Kent was fluent.
Most of the Europeans spoke enough English to hold a conversation. The Japanese group was different. Bob couldn’t tell if they didn’t understand, or if they were pretending not to. Something told him they understood more than they let on.
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They found two more people, Shinji and Claire, who had picked the Cleric like Tami. Tami got them to start helping her with the wounded. Shinji had Minor Mend like Tami but Claire had chosen a skill that boosted a person's Vitality.
As they went around most people wanted to talk about what had happened to them more than the system. According to the survivors, the chipmunks had started attacking right after they chose their classes. At first it was one or two and they were easily scared off. But more kept coming. Then the squirrels arrived.
That’s when the ranger panicked. He locked himself inside his cabin and wouldn’t let anyone in. They heard gunshots. Screams. And then nothing. The real panic started after the ranger was gone.
Some tried to escape by car, but none of the vehicles started. A few refused to give up. Most of those were the ones who’d died. More would have died if Bob’s group hadn’t arrived when they did.
It felt like hours had passed talking with everyone, but judging by the sun, it had probably been less than one. Bob hadn’t spoken with everyone himself. He focused on the few people gathered outside the makeshift triage area. Tami still wasn’t letting anyone inside unless they were helping, so they just waited, quiet, still, staring at the curtain of bedsheets strung up between the trees.
Looking back on the morning, Bob realized his friends had gotten off easy. No one in their group had died. Nothing had attacked them directly. They’d had shelter. It wasn’t much, but it had been enough.
He didn’t know if the cabin could hold everyone, but one thing was certain, he wasn’t going to leave anyone behind. They needed to stay together.
Bob pushed through the curtain. Tami was crouched beside a young boy, pale and sweating, a thick bandage wrapped around his leg. His chest rose in shallow, uneven breaths. Bob limped over.
“How’s everyone doing?” he asked quietly.
Tami looked up, her face drawn with exhaustion. “We’ve done what we can. Shinji and Claire helped me to stabilize everyone. We are just watching them now. When we can cast Minor Mend again we do. But some of them have some serious injuries and they need doctors, medicine, and real beds. Or even just floors that aren’t made of dirt.”
She stood and moved to check on a woman lying nearby. “I think we could do more with clean bandages and water. And…” She gave a dry smile. “A few more healing spells or some mana regeneration wouldn’t hurt.”
Despite everything, she looked determined.
“Do you think they could survive a move to the cabin?” Bob asked.
She blinked, surprised. “Why? None of the cars work.”
“They don’t,” Bob confirmed. “But we’re not going to find what we need here. At least the cabin has water, a roof, and a few beds. Clean floors. It’s not perfect, but it’s something.”
Tami glanced around at the other patients, then back at Bob. “I’ll start preparing them,” she nodded. “We’ll need stretchers. People to carry them.” She hesitated. “I didn’t realize I’d run out of mana so fast. I used it all to heal the first few people completely before I switched to just stabilizing them.”
“I’ll get you the help,” Bob said. “We won’t move just yet. I still need to convince everyone to come with us.”
He turned to leave, but Tami called after him, “Don’t be too long. The sooner we get there, the better their chances. Also check again to see if there are any other clerics we could use the help.”
Bob nodded and stepped back through the curtain, limping toward the restroom building. George and Kent were sitting nearby, keeping an eye on the group.
He sat down beside them. “I talked to Tami. Some of the injured won’t make it unless we move them. I want to bring everyone to the cabin.”
George raised an eyebrow. “You planning to fit fifty people into that place?”
“It’s all we’ve got,” Bob said. “Sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder indoors is better than sleeping outside. If we gather all the supplies we can carry, we might make it work.”
George looked skeptical. “You do have a plan, right?”
Bob shrugged. “Not really. I figured we’d wing it.”
Kent burst into laughter.
George turned to him, confused. Kent clapped Bob on the shoulder and stood.
“Just like old times,” Kent said. “The best times we had always started with you saying ‘we’ll just wing it.’ I’ll help.” He walked off, still chuckling.
Bob blinked, a little stunned. He hadn’t remembered being the guy with the plans. That had always been George. Turning to him, Bob said, “What about you? I can’t do this without you.”
George gave him a look, then smirked. “I’ll help. If you tell me how you hurt your leg.”
Bob groaned. “Are you serious?”
“Blake won’t tell me. Which means it’s good.”
Bob sighed, defeated. “There was a squirrel on the hood of a car. It jumped at me. I swung my sledgehammer and missed. It bit me. I knocked it off. Blake killed it.”
George grinned. “You missed.”
Bob glared. “Don’t say it.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You thought it.”
“I don’t know what you’re swinging on about,” George said with a sly grin.
“I hate you.”
“And yet you’d bleed it out, dig deeper, just to throw it away,” George sang in a terrible imitation of Linkin Park.
Bob stared. “Please stop.”
“I thought it was funny,” Jill said.
Bob jumped. He hadn’t noticed her approach.
“Don’t encourage him,” Bob muttered. “He’ll ruin the band for me.”
George was still laughing. “Says the guy who serenaded us with The Lion King this morning.”
Now Jill was laughing too. Their laughter caught the attention of nearby campers. People started drifting closer.
George leaned in and whispered, “I did my part. Got them here. Your turn.”
He walked away without further explanation.
Bob looked around. Jill stayed close and gently said, “Look around. The laughter brought them over.”
She was right. People were nearby, listening, waiting. Bob stood, leaning on his sledgehammer like a crutch.
He took a breath. “Hi. My name’s Bob. My friends and I were staying at a cabin about a mile from here. None of our cars started this morning, just like yours.” He paused, voice steadying. “We came here hoping the ranger could help. He’s gone. The phones are dead. The cars don’t work. The world we knew? It’s not here anymore. But we are.”
“We didn’t expect to start fighting giant squirrels and chipmunks.” That got a reaction, murmurs, a few surprised nods. “A lot of people got hurt. Some didn’t make it. I don’t know what’s going on. But I know we can’t stay here. Tami’s been treating the injured.” He gestured to the curtain. “She says we need to move them.”
“We’re heading back to the cabin. It’s not big enough for all of us to have beds. But we’ll all fit inside. It has water. A roof. If something attacks, I’d rather be behind walls than trees.”
The crowd was silent.
A man stepped forward, likely the father of the family of six. “Why would we be safer there? Shouldn’t we head for town?”
“I’d love to,” Bob said honestly. “But it’s a long walk. Two, maybe three days. And I don’t want to sleep outside, not when we don’t know what’s out there.”
Another man with a French accent spoke up. “What do you get out of this? What do we give you for use of your cabin?”
Bob hesitated, parsing the words. “Nothing,” he finally said. “All I ask is that we help each other. Watch each other’s backs. Gather supplies. Protect the injured. We’re stronger together. That’s all I want, safety in numbers.”
The man didn’t seem thrilled, but he didn’t argue.
A younger woman called out. “Why should we trust you? You’re not the ranger.”
Kent heard a man murmur, “You just got here. You think you’re in charge now?”
Bob waited, saying nothing. He’d learned from work that sometimes silence was better than any speech.
Then the system notifications arrived.
LEADERSHIP RANK +1
PERSONALITY +1
Bob stared at the glowing text, stunned.
He pulled up his stats.
NAME: BOB MERRICK
RACE: HUMAN
CLASS: PRIEST
LEVEL: 1
CREDITS: 10
ATTRIBUTES
- STRENGTH (STR): 13
- VITALITY (VIT): 17
- DEXTERITY (DEX): 10
- VITALITY (VIT): 17
- INTELLIGENCE (INT): 17
- WISDOM (WIS): 13
- COMPREHENSION (CMP): 9
- WISDOM (WIS): 13
- WILLPOWER (WIL): 14
- INSPIRATION (INP): 8
- INTUITION (INTU): 10
- INSPIRATION (INP): 8
- CHARISMA (CHA): 21
- PERSONALITY (PRS): 18
- ALLURE (ALR): 14
- PERSONALITY (PRS): 18
TITLES
QUESTS
SKILLS
He stared at the stat sheet. Somehow, he’d gained three ranks in Leadership. No idea what that even did yet. And then his eyes drifted to the line he’d been ignoring since he got his class: Free Points: 3
Bob took a breath and stepped away from the murmuring crowd, just far enough to clear his head. Alright, engineer brain. Time to do something useful.
He sat down on a picnic table, balanced the sledgehammer across his good leg, and stared at the numbers again..
“Okay,” he muttered under his breath, “no idea what most of these are, but let’s work with what we’ve got.”
BODY
MIND
SPIRIT
Then there was AURA
He’d barely looked at it before. Now it was his highest category.
CHARISMA 21. PERSONALITY 18. ALLURE 14.
“Guess this makes me... inspiring?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
He mentally tapped the OratorLeadership.
A pattern was forming.
He’d just tried to calm a frightened group of strangers, wanting to convince them to follow him into the woods, and the system had rewarded him for it. Apparently, leadership wasn't just about barking orders, maybe it was about connection. Presence. Communication.
This wasn't the game style he would have chosen but it was the one he was living. So he made the call like he would on a design.
Point one into Personality.
Point two into Willpower.
That left one. Bob hesitated, fingers hovering over the display.
Allure sat there at 14, the lowest in Aura. It felt… weird. Manipulative? Game-y?
But maybe it wasn’t about looks. Maybe it was presence, being memorable. Being someone others wanted to stand behind. Charisma pulled people in. Personality gave them something to believe in. Maybe Allure was the glue.
He grit his teeth and assigned the third point there. Better to be effective than insecure about terminology.
The screen flickered.
FREE POINTS: 0
No confetti. No fanfare. But it was done. His build, if that’s what this was, had officially begun. He looked toward the others, many still murmuring, still unsure.
Bob looked back at the crowd. They were still watching him. He wasn’t sure he believed in himself yet, but maybe that didn’t matter. Maybe belief could come later. For now, they needed a leader. He’d be one. Time to make his new stats count.