A scream was heard in the distance among the gunfire. It was the first time Rargnes had heard these, but he recognized them immediately – a cold fear coursed through Rargnes.
"Evolution will take shape in everything," he recalled the words of a member of his group, "plants will appear, as will a panoply of species."
Fear ran through the members of the group of mages and warriors, and then it turned into hatred towards the group of lords. They were controlled by a form of madness whose energy spread throughout the group. Some whispered, grumbling as if trying to calm their fear. Others, frozen, instinctively imitated the energy of others.
"Give us the information now!" A member of the group shouted as he stepped forward. Rargnes jumped and turned around. The man looked behind him at his group: "Without information, we will die! These bastards don't want anything shared!"
Some calculated the number of people in each group, a dozen versus two dozen.
"But don't make any noise, fucker!" Replied a member of the group of lords.
"And why not? Either give them to you, or we'll beat you up."
Others came forward with similar roars.
A tall, muscular man walked towards a small female lord, panic visible on his face. The other men from the group of mages and warriors surrounded him.
Rargnes felt like he should change sides while there was still time, but fear prevented him from moving. "Don't make waves." It was the law he had been taught, and he had survived well so far, despite the harassment that had masked his compassion for the first half before alcohol filled the gap.
He had no desire to drink under these conditions. He felt a real fear, a paralyzing one, telling him that his training and the part he had grown to hate all these years was not in vain for this one situation, that remaining passive while following the herd seemed the best decision.
The leader of the lords wanted to intervene but quickly gave in to a few men. A few barks and a display of their muscles were enough to share vital information.
Rargnes noted the division, even within the lords. He remembered a lord who had not joined their group. This person seemed well integrated into the other group. The animosity was visible; he wondered what to do to fit in; he had a few solutions in mind, which he mulled over until all the faults were shown to him. The more he thought about it, the more he became afraid and didn't dare.
After hearing the information, the assembled group discussed what to do.
"We have to go out and find the police and the army!"
"It's dangerous, given the creatures; let's wait for help here!"
"We need weapons! Boss, where are your sharpest knives?"
"In the kitchen," he said with a bit of shock. And led them there.
Rargnes inherited a not-so-sharp knife. The bartender did his best.
"Goblins are weak! If they increase in strength, if fucking creatures appear, we need to find more people quickly!"
"Let's just wait here for help!"
"But what help?! The police are not responding!"
"But if even the army can't do it, we're basically dead! What don't you understand about that?!"
So we waited. The response caused dissatisfaction, but the fear of being an outsider walking alone, excluded from the group, stopped anyone from leaving the bar. We rummaged around to gather all the food we could in front of the slightly disgruntled bartender's eyes.
An hour passed, which turned into several. And the more they heard the screams outside, the more they barricaded the door and the windows with overturned tables and furniture. Wearing them together had the merit of forming a slight cohesion.
Then, we no longer heard any screams for a considerable time, nor any firearms. The group waited again. The discussion forums informed us of the attack of the monsters, that the army had resolved the situation in certain areas, and that we were asked not to go out under any circumstances. And the information from the lords also leaked.
Rargnes read a message that sent shivers down his spine. A group of goblins attacked a group of four. They had their hands tied behind their backs, and without the police, they did not know what fate would await them.
Now they knew since the police – having received orders to shoot the goblins on sight – tortured the goblins. They revealed they wanted to put them into slavery for their masters.
Night fell, and Rargnes tried to sleep for many hours before falling asleep on the ground.
From the information Rargnes acquired:
A warrior class obtains a small bonus in strength. The greater danger comes as the apocalypse continues, with all species coming to this world. None of the goblins knew why that happened.