FIVE: GOLD DIGGERS
(ALEX KROSS)
The lights grew larger as the creatures marched closer. We could now hear the gleeful chatter of the Leprechauns. They seemed like a friendly bunch. Tiny little gnome like creatures, with not much hair. They were around three feet tall and some were a bit fatter than the others. Some wore caps and hats, while others carried golden sticks and bones.
It was the bones which gave the first hint of their dark nature. Lee yelled while smacking the dashboard, "JENNY DON'T FUCKING SIT THERE! RUN OVER AS MANY AS YOU CAN!"
Jenny snapped out of the shock, and put her foot down. The car shit forward as if a bee had stung it's ass. As we went closer to the Leprechauns, the headlights fell on their faces. If you could call that a face.
They had pale yellowish green skin, which looked half eaten away. They had a disfigured face, pointed teeth where some stuck out of the mouth and mismatched eyes. They wore tidy suits though. They looked like little businessmen who would rip you apart.
The car drove through their ranks, squishing them to death. We managed to drive through the crowd and Jenny yelled, "HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, YOU FUCKING HOBBITS?!"
Nolan chuckled nervously as I sighed in relief and said, "Jenny keep driving as fast as you can, we don't want them following us!"
Jenny was about to reply but we never heard it for Lee had screamed out again. "THOSE SONS OF BITCHES ARE FAST! PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE PEDAL! GET US THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!"
I glanced back and saw the Leprechauns, no longer giggling, running towards us at astonishing speeds. They had turned their dead into golden weapons and were now charging at us with them.
None of us other than Jenny had a ranged attack to slow them down. We couldn't start a fire for Lee, or the car would blow up. Our only option was to keep driving till Warrenton. But even that option was eliminated, as our car skidded off the road and crashed into the roadside barrier.
One of those little devils had shot his pointed weapon at us, which had hit the tire. We scrambled out of the car as fast as we could. The Leprechauns were only a few metres away now, closing in. Lee quickly relayed his impromptu plan to us.
As the monster's grew closer, Nolan used his skill to pick up the car, and hurled it at the crowd. It smashed a few more of them. I took out my Dagger from the first Quest and readied myself. Jenny took her position behind me.
I shot forward among their ranks, carving my way through. I didn't have enough time to deal any fatal damage. Jenny covered that part. She poisoned each and every wounded imp. They slowed down, although they didn't die. That was our goal till I completed my part.
Nolan was ripping apart any Leprechaun which went for them instead of me. Within a few seconds, I had reached the ruined car. I popped open the hood and started scratching my dagger so fast, that it started sparking, due to friction.
I barely had five or six seconds before the little devils got to me. I ran my blade faster and faster. The Leprechauns were nearly on me. A few were throwing their weapons but I dodged them as I danced around, scratching.
POP!
With a popping sound, the engine started glowing as it finally caught the fire. I dashed back to my friends, slashing more of the fiends on my way.
Lee took charge and accelerated the reaction. The Leprechauns had not yet realised what had happened. They saw I was no longer near the car and all of them started making their way towards us. Jenny kept diseasing the ones nearest and Nolan kept throwing them into their ranks as we backed away fast.
BOOM!
The car blew up, taking out all the Leprechauns in the vicinity. Lee controlled the fire to wipe out the ones near us. We started running in the direction of Warrenton, with the flames on our tail, wiping out the remaining Leprechauns.
DING!
DING!
DING!
DING!
The System flooded my screen with XP messages. They read:
+38 XP FOR SLAYING A LEPRECHAUN
+40 XP FOR SLAYING A LEPRECHAUN
The other messages also read the same. I had levelled up to level 8 by now. My Sprint was now Level 4. We had slain all the Leprechauns nearby. Lee picked up a burning piece of wood, which had caught fire from the explosion and fire storm. He held it high, like a torch and said, "We have no other option than to walk the rest of the way. I'll take this torch and lead the way. Jenny you stay between Alex and Nolan. Nolan, you can take the rear. And I will burn up any more Leprechauns if they dare come!"
It was a good plan and we started walking in a single file. Warrenton wasn't that far away now, just a couple more hours of walking. We didn't encounter any other hordes on the way, though a few Leprechauns stumbled on our way every once in a while. We took turns killing them for XP.
After two hours we finally saw a sign that said "WELCOME TO WARRENTON!" Finally!
Lee stopped after walking in a few feet. I bumped into him accidentally. Jenny bumped into me, and Nolan into her. We complained as to why Lee had suddenly stopped. Lee spoke, "Nolan, take the lead now. You know the way to your place better than us. Let us swap places."
It was a good idea. Nolan took the lead and we started walking through the city. Or rather, whatever remained of it. A lot of buildings were blown up, or broken down. There was not a person in sight. It was pitch dark, with no streetlights or anything. It was kind of creepy, with the cold draft blowing.
Nolan, however, seemed unfazed. He took his turns sharply and started walking faster. We had to jog to keep up now. I looked at my watch, it was around three thirty in the night. Nolan suddenly stopped in front of a convenience store named DeLuxury Mart.
The store was dark inside, and the glass around it was shattered. There was not a person in sight. We stepped in, one by one.
CLANG!
The sudden noise made Jenny jump. It startled me as well. Lee turned up the fire to see around better. The moonlight was somewhat blocked as we entered the store.
All the canned foods were scattered around. Some shelves were toppled over, and everything lay around messily.
CLANG!
The sound came again from the right. Nolan sharply made a right turn. We slowly started moving towards the noise. We could hear a faint sound now. It sounded like someone, or something mumbling. We took one more turn and saw something totally unexpected.
Behind a shopping cart, laden with food and other stuff, was a boy crouched on the floor. He didn't seem to have noticed us yet, he was rummaging through the bottom rack trying to find something. He stopped rummaging. He finally seemed to have noticed the light from the torch. Kicking the cart towards us, and skidding backwards with the force, he brought out a short sword.
It reflected the light of the flame. It wasn't made of steel or iron though. It had a teal bluish tinge to it. It was a two edged sword. He gripped it with both hands, trembling. Lee approached him slowly, with his hands raised to show he came in peace.
"We're not your enemies. Are you alone here? Or do you have friends with you? We just want to help."
"I- I got separated f-fr-from my group! I don't know how to g-get back to them!"
He sobbed a little bit still held his sword high. Lee introduced us to him, though he didn't tell him about our Skills. The boy finally calmed down and took down his sword. We all relaxed. Lee approached him, as we carefully followed suit.
"Will you invite me and my friends to your group? We can all work together to survive this week, okay?"
The boy nodded and said, "Okay, but I- I don't know where they are right now. A large group of Leprechauns came and we got separated."
Lee sighed and said, "For now you can tag along with the rest of us. Nolan, lead us to your stash."
Nolan nodded grimly, and took the lead again. He led us to a room in the back. It was kind of a storeroom. He handed the torch to me and went ahead and removed a crate of Coke. Then he crawled in there and within a second he had disappeared. He then called us to crawl in. Jenny went first. Then Leonard, the new kid, went in. I followed them with Lee behind me.
Holy fuck! There was an entire secret room in here. There were more crates in here, a couch and beanbags, and even a carpet. There were oil lamps as well as electric ones.
Nolan grinned at the shocked looks on our faces. It turned out he was a part of a gang before all this shit happened. This was his secret room where he kept his guns and explosives and few cold weapons. We literally the oil lamps and extinguished our torch.
We sat on the beanbags, while Lee sat on the couch. We all looked at him for our next course of action. Lee sat quietly for ten minutes. We sat in silence. I checked out my Emissary Page.
[EMISSARY PAGE]
NAME: Alex Kross
AGE: 16
SKILL: -NONE-
LEVEL: 8
GUARDIAN: Tyrone Lee
CLASS: [UNLOCKS AT LEVEL 10]
ABILITIES: {Sprint Lv. 4}
STR: 25 (+)
AGI: 28 (+)
VIT: 19 (+)
PSY: 20 (+)
SEN: 19 (+)
AP: 0
It looked pretty impressive. Lee finally broke the silence.
"Firstly, we will grab as many guns and grenades as we can without weighing us down. Then we will pack some blunt weapons to knock out enemies. After that, we will go look for Leo's group. They will be in Warrenton I guess. No one in their right minds is going to wander the roads in the darkness like this with the Leprechauns around. Finally we join their group and increase all of our chances of survival. Any questions?"
No one had any objections so that was the plan we decided upon. I took a few grenades, but no guns. I had my trusty dagger with me. Plus guns would have weighed me down. However I pocketed a Glock, after Lee insisted that everyone should have at least one gun.
After arming up, Lee lit the torch again, from one of the lamps and we stepped outside. The streets were still empty. The first rays of sun were peeking from behind the buildings and ruined structures. We stood in front of the convenience store, with weapons in hand.
I had my dagger in my right hand, poised to strike at the moment's notice. Nolan held a Carbine on his shoulder. Jenny stood with grenades in her pockets. Leo carried his short sword. And Lee held the torch high, even though the sky was getting lighter now.
As the first rays of sun hit our faces, we departed from our safety and ventured into the land occupied by Leprechauns.