"Pretty cool, right?" Rachael banged on the side of the ATM as the soft green glow it gave off illuminated her features. "Go ahead, place your hand on the screen."
Callum gave the machine a dubious look as he did what Rachael said. At that moment, the green light intensified as it bathed him in its glow. A few seconds later, the screen changed to display some items and their cost.
[Your Balance: 0 Fragments]
[1 Day Ration Pack: 5 Fragments]
[7 Day Ration Pack: 30 Fragments]
[Basic Weapon: 10 Fragments]
[Rare Weapon: 30 Fragments]
[Eclipse Card: 50 Fragments]
[Legend Pack: 100 Fragments]
'The writing font matches the one on the cards!' Callum could not help but wonder if this machine was the reason for the Walkers that Tom mentioned thinking they were in a game world. 'The ration packs must be how they're surviving. Didn't Rachael say those white lights from the Gobs were fragments?' He felt his stomach churning at that thought. If that were the case, then he would have to go out hunting for those creatures. 'Yeah. I can see why they thought it would be like a game now.'
'It's these Eclipse Cards I'm wondering about.' Just their presence on the ATM hinted a dreamwalker could hold more than a single card. 'This is probably part of the reason Tom has connected our situation to the eclipse as well.'
"So, see anything you like?" Rachael said as she watched his serious expression falter for a moment.
"Yeah, but it's not like I can buy anything." Callum shrugged his shoulders as the screen returned to a pale green light as he removed his hand. "What's the deal with the weapons on there? Can't you just find something outside?"
"You could, but they don't have any effect on those furry things. Only weapons bought on these ATMs actually work." Rachael sighed in frustration as she walked towards the rear wall of the basement.
"Let me guess, you've been forced to buy weapons and rations for everyone living here."
"Exactly. That's part of the reason the other Walkers left. They didn't see the point of wasting their time protecting those who can't protect themselves."
"But there were people helping outside."
"Yeah, those are just the ones we've armed. It's an enormous risk for them. You know, just about anything here can kill them with ease. Unlike us." Rachael said as she flashed her left hand with the hearts on it at Callum. Which caused him to frown.
"Do you mean these act like lives or something?" Callum stared at his own hand as he asked that question.
"Something like that. When all ten disappear, you die. We found that out the hard way on our first day. But as long as you rest or get some sleep, the hearts and stars come back. Tom's taken to calling them life and will counters."
"Ok, life counters I understand for the hearts, but will counters?" Callum cocked an eyebrow in her direction.
"Yeah, well, with his theory about us being dreamwalkers. That means our cards let us manipulate things about this nightmare world. He thinks the stars represent our willpower and the cost of the spells is how much willpower it takes to override the natural state of this world. So you need to be careful how and when you use your abilities. You never know when you might need them or when you can next rest safely."
Callum rubbed his chin as he glanced around at the gloom-filled atmosphere of those living there. 'No wonder they look so defeated. They have to rely on the Walkers here just to receive their basic needs for survival. It's given rise to a hierarchy between the Walkers and normal people.' Callum sighed as he thought about the tension that was likely to appear. Especially if the Walkers made the living conditions better for the others over time.
'They'll either end up taking us for granted or expect us to put our lives on the line to serve them.' He could already see things would get difficult. These people would apply the normal rules of society to this world. Eventually believing that those who had the power of Walkers would have the responsibility to serve and protect them.
'I guess the Walkers who left saw the problem coming on the horizon. It would definitely be easier to explore this world for a way home without dragging them along.'
"Anyway, this is your bed. It's not much, but it'll have to do. You probably haven't realised how tired you are yet. Trust me, you'll fall asleep in no time."
Callum glanced from Rachael to a pile of blankets and pillows laying on top of flattened cardboard boxes. 'Why don't they bring mattresses in here? Surely that would be better!' However, Callum thanked her instead as he sat down on top of the pile.
"Seriously, get some sleep. You'll need it so we can go hunting. I'll come to wake you up when it's time." Rachael said as she waved goodbye.
Before he knew it, Callum was yawning and stretching. 'Damn, why am I so tired? At that moment, he realised his so-called bed was quite a distance from the normal people who huddled together. 'I guess the power division has already begun.' He sighed as he noticed the ragged state they were in. There were even a few women clutching babies to their chests, staring at the dark concrete with haunted expressions. All of their clothes seemed dirty, and it was only now that Callum realised the odour from their bodies was thick in the air.
As he lay down and pulled a rough blanket over himself, his mind drifted. He thought about his friends and their plans for that weekend. 'Geez, what are my parents going to think when they realise I'm missing?' Before he found an answer to that, the warm embrace of sleep took over him.
Callum groaned as he felt a dull pain in his side. 'That was one crazy dream.' He thought as he opened his eyes. Only to be met with the sight of Rachael leaning against the wall next to him.
"Morning. You might want to get up and meet me outside. Don't make me kick you again." She said while chuckling as she walked off with her long dark hair flowing behind her.
Callum groaned again as he stared at the people sleeping around him. There were only a couple of people still awake, but each of them was giving him a funny look. 'I guess word got out about me saving that guy.' It was the only reasonable explanation for the change of attitude amongst those folks towards him.
His back cracked as he stood up and stumbled through the crowd of bodies to the stairs. 'This is rough. I definitely need to get a mattress.' He sighed as he walked through the main floor of the library. At that moment, he noticed that most of the wooden features were rotting and damp. The walls had cracks and parts of the ceiling were missing. Which revealed the foggy sky outside.
'The green light in the fog is gone!' Callum stared at that sight for a few seconds before exiting the building. Rachael was waiting for him by the gate just before the makeshift car barricade. 'If I didn't know better, I would think it was just a normal day with a ton of fog!'
As he approached her, Rachael noticed his inquisitive gaze looking up and down the street. It only took her a few seconds to realise what had caught his attention.
"Yeah, the fog becomes normal when those creatures aren't nearby. So this place should be safe for a while." Rachael grinned as she looked at Callum's confused expression. "Come on. We might have quite a bit of distance to cover before finding anything."
Rachael slid across the hood of a red car, quickly followed by Callum before they set off in the opposite direction from where Callum had arrived in that world. He noticed the air was nowhere near as cold as it had been and the lack of green hues made the world less creepy. It was just the unusual silence that unnerved him as they turned a corner into a residential street.
They were old buildings of possibly Victorian-era architecture. The road was made of the same cobblestones as just outside of the library. Callum glanced between those buildings on their right and the strip of grass that ran along the left side of the road. Every couple of meters, an old tree grew out of it. 'It seems like this would have been a nice place to live.'
Callum could not help but wonder why that world matched his own so well. Only if you forgot about the existence of the Gobs. 'Is it just a mirror image of our world, or did people actually live here?' He had so many questions, but he doubted they would ever find the answers to them.
"Right, I guess I should explain a few things while we walk," Rachael said as she kept her gaze focused ahead of them. "As you've probably guessed, you can have multiple cards. So far, only a single Walker that we know of has more than one spell card. There are other types of cards. So we've dubbed it a Walker's Dream Deck. We discovered you can sell extra cards at the ATM for fragments. Except for the first card that you got. Which led to us calling that one your Core card."
"What's the name of the Walker who has more than one spell card?" Callum asked as his curiosity piqued.
"His name is Adam. He's basically the leader of the ones who abandoned us." Rachael sighed as her tone became heavy and her hands balled up into fists. "Anyway, did you notice the hammer I gave you disappeared when you stopped focusing on it? That's because it became a card and it's now in your deck. You just have to think the word Hammer and it'll appear in your hand."
Callum tried it out a few times and noticed she was right. He could take the weapon out and make it disappear as well. 'I see the will counters came back as well.' He thought as he caught sight of the rear of his right hand.
"There are other things like that as well. Such as clothes and other items. So we're calling everything in that category as item cards. They're pretty handy since they cost nothing in terms of will counters to use. Though, the weapons do have a damage amount written on their cards. It's the number after the sword symbol."
Callum summoned the Hammer card as he quickly glanced at it to confirm what Rachael had said.
Hammer: A basic weapon in the Fringes.
Damage: 2 Life Counters
"I guess you don't know if there's a limit to a deck yet?" Callum asked since the explanation seemed remarkably similar to the trading card games he had played when he was younger.
"Not yet," Rachael admitted as she glanced back at him. "But it's definitely a concern. Even the rations come as cards until we activate them and hand them out. Of course, those cards disappear once the rations are used. All the weapons that are being used by the normal folks are cards in our decks. So if we found a limit, it could lead to some nasty consequences."
Callum nodded his head in agreement. 'They'll have to choose between increasing their own power to survive and providing people with what they need.' Callum frowned at the thought for a moment. 'If it comes down to it, I'll choose myself. No offence to what Tom and the others are doing, but I want to make sure I survive this. After all, no one will survive anyway if we Walkers die.'
"Looks like we've found our hunting spot." Rachael suddenly said as she pointed to an old, wide stone bridge that covered the expanse of a river up ahead.
Callum's eyes narrowed as he stared at that sight. The fog over the bridge had the greenish hue to it he had come to expect. 'I really don't want to be doing this, but what choice do I have? At the very least, I need to earn enough fragments to buy rations for a day.' He trembled slightly at the thought of confronting the Gobs again.
"Let's go then." He said as the pair broke into a jog as they scanned the bridge.