Chương 28: 27-After the Battle

Jenna watched sadly as the last of the Federation soldiers was put to the ground. They had all been given a decent burial, and Father Alan had officiated once more as priest. Sarah had summoned four different constructs that had dug the tombs and buried the soldiers in them. After some consideration, the zealot corpses had been burned and their ashes scattered. The jury was still out on whether the zealots were human. Bob sat at her side. He did not need to say anything—he knew her too well.

Jenna remained silent for a while. She finally spoke, "We have killed forty human beings this morning. Perhaps forty-one." Bob nodded. Jenna went on, "I know we did not start this. I know it was life-or-death. I know all these things. These kids did not come out of a dungeon. They were people."

"That argument has aged badly," Bob interrupted her.

"Your adoptive family comes out of a dungeon. Morton and Mel came out of a dungeon."

"You are right," Jenna admitted.

"Let me rephrase: these people did not come out of a dungeon in the form of rabid monsters, like the Vorian centaurs or the Sea of Chaos. Hell, for all that we know, even those could eventually develop human emotions."

"I am not with you on that one," Bob thoughtfully answered.

"Essentials out of a Repository dungeon have personalities as complex as those of any Experiential. The others develop their own identity through interaction with Experientials, but I think there is a point at which their personalities are consolidated and do not change anymore, much like human children."

"Whatever," Jenna cut him off. Bob had a tendency to turn every conversation into a philosophical debate. She remained silent for some more time before continuing: "A few months ago, my greatest problem was making the rent on time. I was a waitress. You were a teacher. Now we kill people. The Apocalypse took all from us."

"Jenna, you have a very rose-tinted view of the world we left behind. There was violence and war, there, too," Bob answered.

"Who do you think gets drafted when professional troops can no longer hold the line?

"" People like you and me, Jenna. Schoolteachers and waitresses."

"The Apocalypse only changed one thing: it came for everyone at the same time, not only for a few." They remained silent for a few minutes, taking comfort in each other's presence. Then they stood up and went to look for the rest of their group. The Savants were standing with Father Alan. The young priest seemed distraught.

"Twelve of my flock almost signed for the Federation. It goes without saying that they have rethought their decisions," he said.

"The Savants are escorting us to Babylon. Dignity is going to grant us shelter there."

"I think you are doing the right thing," Jenna said.

"This zone is just not safe anymore."

"They said they wanted to rebuild the country," Alan said sadly.

"I almost believed it."

"They are building an army. Nothing more, nothing less," Bob answered.

"They are giving no guarantees whatsoever about what they are going to do with it." Bran the Hunter had a bunch of metallic objects in his hand. Jenna recognized them immediately. They were the badges of the Federation soldiers they had killed.

"If we meet any Fed along the way, I will give them the badges. Their families deserve to know about it," he explained.

"I don't know what kind of message it will send when you do that," added Alan.

"I am afraid it will send exactly the kind of message we need," Billy answered grimly. The remaining inhabitants of Stanton finally gathered. They were a group of sixty, of all ages. They brought with them the few belongings they could carry, leaving behind their houses and the rest of their lives. All of them seemed sad and beaten. They had tried to cling to their old lives in the face of the Apocalypse, but that part was now over.

Sarah summoned several constructs to help carry their belongings and be ridden by the youngest and the infirm. Jenna hugged both her and Helena.

"I am so proud of you both," she confided to them.

"I rest easier knowing that you are out there, helping people. You are the best."

"Of course we are, Jenna," Sarah said as she hugged her back.

"You trained us." The group started their long trek towards Babylon, Sarah and Steven leading the way, with the young hunter in his stag form, and Helena protecting the rear. They waved goodbye, and they vanished into the forest.

"Ok, we have lost enough time with all this business. Kenosha waits. Are you sure you don't want to do a Captain Beaky?" Jenna asked.

"I can steer him towards Kenosha and drop a beacon there so we can teleport to our destination."

"I still think it is not a good idea, Jenna," Bob answered. Stolen story; please report.

"If the battle against the Postulants showed us something, it is that it is not a good idea to teleport into a zone controlled by an enemy. These people know us and our tactics. I would be surprised if they have not set up dimensional defenses and traps around all their cities."

"I am with Bob on this one," Billy agreed.

"The best way to do this is if they do not know we are coming. That also rules out flying into the zone. Too exposed."

"Ok, it is the scenic route, then," she answered.

"We will travel by ground and approach carefully." They spent the rest of the morning traveling on Bob's back. He had transformed into a stag and could easily carry both of them. Jenna used her powers to adjust her weight so Bob did not have to tire himself out. Even taking into account Jenna's help, Bob traveled at an astounding speed.

"Bob, are you stacking perks? It seems to me that you are traveling far faster than a normal stag could," she asked him. Bob could not use human speech while in stag form, but he could summon his skill screen so that she and Billy could check it. Stag Form (Fleshshaping 3): Transform instantly into a stag, or back into human form. While in stag form, manual manipulation becomes impossible, but the user grants 50% Body to running and jumping.

Forest Trailblazer (Athleticism 3): While in stag form, and running through a forest, the user will never become tired. Requires Stag Form. In Tune with Nature (Truthfinding 3): While in stag form, and inside a forest, add +3 to Perception, a Spirit Secondary Stat. Perception needs to be anchored in Spirit. Requires Stag Form. Jenna remembered that Bob could link perks to specific forms, making them more powerful. He had already done so with his Manta flying form.

He was always discovering new ways to use his powers. She tried not to feel jealous of her friend—she did not entirely succeed. At noon, they reached a place of horror. It had been a small village near the Federation border. Now it was a graveyard. The corpses of civilians, most of them without a system, lay strewn around. The word Traitor had been cut into their foreheads.

"Dear God," said Billy, taken aback.

"What the hell happened here?"

"The Answer happened," Jenna answered.

"I think the Federation did one of their recruitment drives here. Some of the brochures they gave out at Stanton are on the floor. They probably got some people to join their army. Then these bastards came and punished the whole village."

"For joining the Feds?" asked Billy.

"No, Billy. For getting a Class. The Answer thinks that becoming an Avatar is cooperating with the Coven; all who do are betraying humanity," she told him.

"That's why they came to Stanton," Bob said thoughtfully.

"They were following the Federation's recruiters."

"It makes no sense," Jenna muttered.

"Why did they target Sergeant White? They tried to kill anyone with a System, or parts of it, in our case, but him they took away."

"Perhaps they wanted to give him extra punishment?" offered Bob.

"After all, he was spreading the System around."

"But so was Steven. He is a Savant. He has been using his Teaching skill to grant Classes for months. Why not him?" Jenna answered.

"There is something we are missing here. Something we don't know." She felt sick, looking at the carnage.

"God, they killed everyone."

"Not everyone, Jenna. There were no kids," Bob told her.

"Something tells me mercy had little to do with it. You can't activate anyone under 14 years of age. They spared the children because they did not have a system, not because they were kids." They walked away from that place of horror. Jenna knew that, no matter how far they went away, the image of those corpses trampled into the ground would go with her wherever she went. That night, they camped, and Bob offered to take watch.

"We can do turns, Bob. Neither of us needs to sleep," Jenna told him.

"No, get some sleep. There are some things I need to think about," he lied. Jenna knew he was doing it for her. The battle had taken an emotional toll on her, and a good night of natural sleep was more soothing than anything magic could offer. She slept deeply, holding Billy close to her. Dreams came. Suddenly, she was back in Chicago, facing Paul in a duel. The same cold eyes, the same hateful smile she had hoped not to see ever again. … being honest does occasionally bring benefits too.

We have now established that I tell the truth. So, believe me when I tell you that Rosita, Alfie, Doug, and all those boring, interchangeable coworkers of yours are dead… She became aware he was telling her something important, something she had missed when the original fight took place, but which her subconscious mind had noticed. The memory, filled with meaning, floated like an ice cube back to the surface of a lake. Of course! How could she have missed this! It was… She woke up. Bob was calling her.

"Jenna, wake up. Dawn has come," he whispered. The memory vanished without a trace, along with her conclusions. When she opened her eyes, she no longer remembered the dream.

"What are you talking about, Bob? It is still dark," she muttered.

"Not dawn. Dawn," he curtly said. She opened her eyes and, sure enough, she saw the athletic figure of their ally, sitting on a log and watching the fire.

"You took your sweet time," Jenna said, annoyed.

"We could have used some help yesterday."

"I have been helping you all along," the woman calmly said, not a hint of emotion in her voice.

"What do you want?" Jenna asked.

"Change of plans," Dawn answered her.

"Bilto is no longer in Kenosha. He was captured by the Federation this morning. They have taken him to their headquarters in Milwaukee."

"What do they plan to do?" Billy asked, trying to focus his bleary eyes on Dawn.

"The Federation successfully tamed a seventh rank dungeon in Milwaukee, making it safe for human habitation," Dawn explained.

"They plan to kill the remaining boss with Bilto inside the dungeon."

"You are not one for overexplaining things, are you?" Jenna angrily said.

"Out with it, Dawn! Spill it." She looked at Jenna, looking vaguely amused.

"Bilto ate a Peach of Immortality. He is now a living dungeon seed. If the dungeon implodes around him, he will transform it into a symbiotic, reproductive alchemical dungeon, with him as the Sect Master and new core."

"That dungeon will produce new Peaches of Immortality, which will be used to create more alchemical dungeons."

"If we do not stop this, you will essentially have gifted Alchemy to your enemy," Dawn went on in her passionless voice.

"An enemy that is basing its whole military might on the idea of mass-producing magical items." Jenna digested this.

"Do you want us to ride now?"

"No, of course not, it is too dark," Dawn answered.

"Then good night. See you in an hour," Jenna said, turning her back on Dawn and promptly falling asleep. She needed less than fifteen seconds to start softly snoring. A flicker of surprise registered for a second on Dawn's face. Bob got the feeling that it was not a common sight.