Chương 66: 65: Emotional Support for the Win

I started walking to the school with determination, striding along like a woman with a mission. Two blocks later, I was strolling, as if Zelda and I were on a pleasant jaunt through the lovely tourist town San Celeste had once been. I was trying to pretend just that. Because Jules wasn't going to be at the school. And I didn't need [Uncanny Insight] or some precognition super power to tell me so. Her car hadn't been in the driveway.

Why would she have driven to a school such an easy walk from her house, when cars were breaking down, people were having accidents, and the parking lot was probably jammed with the cars of the people who lived farther away? I was perfectly capable of coming up with all sorts of unlikely answers, but they were all just snipers on the rooftop: nice stories I was telling myself because I didn't like the taste of the truth. Obviously, I was still going to check.

Maybe I'd even make the longer hike to the high school to search there, although I might have to pick up the pace, so Pen didn't worry. But if Jules had been away from home when the System arrived and she hadn't managed to get back in the four days since… I stopped thinking. Deliberately and with intention. I looked, admiring the orange and purple flowers in a garden, and didn't let my eyes linger on the unmoving body I could see lying in the side yard.

I listened, to the faint lilt of wind chimes and the distant sound of ocean waves, ignoring the eeriness of the missing traffic and people. I smelled, taking a deep breath—and then coughed that breath right back out, choking. A miasma of death and rot hung in the air where the ocean should have been. People were going to have to start cleaning up, like it or not, or the next deaths weren't going to be from monsters, but from diseases. And I was definitely not going to think about that.

I spotted the school up ahead with relief. Despite that lovely Resilience boost, my brain was not the companion I needed on this walk. My other companion—my much more helpful companion—had her ears pricked forward, head slightly dropped.

"Okay?" I asked her. Too many people, she replied, dropping her eyes to the side in the way a dog says she's not interested. Terriers may not be bloodhounds, but even they have millions of scent receptors in their noses.

"Anything that smells of Jujube?" I asked her, already knowing the answer. She sat down and scratched behind her ear. As expected, that was a no.

"No worries." I bent and scratched the same ear for her, rubbing deep into that soft spot below the cartilage. Home? she asked.

"Soon," I promised. Except what was I going to do with Pen? And how was I going to deal with her brothers? I'd obviously derailed their plans for the moment and without Ezra they might be a headless monster… but what if the monster was a hydra? Would the Murder Hobos be set on revenge? And why the hell was I worrying about problems I couldn't solve? I'd decide what to do next once I knew for sure Jules wasn't here. The air seemed to be getting heavier as fog crept in from the ocean, and I shivered.

I was wearing long sleeves over a tank and blue jeans, but I hadn't thought about a jacket. The school was set back from the road, a wide expanse of grass separating the two. Once upon a time it must have been attractive, with mature eucalyptus trees and hedges on the grounds and multiple Spanish-style buildings surrounding a central courtyard. After Sandy Hook, though, elementary schools changed their priorities, and an ugly, eight-foot tall, chain-link fence surrounded the entire property.

They thought the fence would keep them safe. But if a rift opened inside the fence or a mana-crazed bird like that barred owl flew in, they'd be trapped. I'd prefer a location with more escape routes, myself. A guard stood at the gate. He did not look bored. He looked nervous as hell. I tapped [Analyze]. Unknown, no levels. He hadn't even entered the System yet, and they'd put him on duty guarding the only entrance to their shelter? That seemed like a lousy idea.

"Hey," I said as I approached him, "I'm—""No animals allowed," he snapped at me, interrupting me before I could finish. I glanced down at Zelda, then back at him.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not kidding. Have you seen what—" He stopped himself and took a deep breath. And then in a softer voice, like the nice elementary school guard he was, he said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but animals have been experiencing changes and the school administration has decided, for the safety of the kids, that no animals are allowed inside the fence. No exceptions, not even for service animals."

"Wow. Sucks to be blind in this town, huh." He tried a smile.

"I gotta say, I think it probably really sucks to be disabled at all with all this going on."

"Fair point." I glanced down at Zelda and considered. She could obviously wait outside for me. Even if a trigger-happy, animal-fearing, fighter-type showed up, she could take care of herself. So far the highest level person I'd seen was, who, Danny? At Level 4? I tapped the [Analyze] button in my HUD and held my mental finger on it, scanning all the people I could see inside the fence.

There were plenty of them; adults standing in small worried clusters, kids running around, families sitting at all the picnic tables. Unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, so many [Unknowns], it was like looking up at that tree in the challenge scenario when I'd first put the sunglasses on and seeing [Oak Branch], [Oak Branch], [Oak Branch]. Yeah, Zelda would be fine. If some scared person attacked her, though, and she defended herself, they probably wouldn't survive. Our level differential was just too big.

One swipe of her paw, with Instinct at 29, could easily do 30 HP of damage, and an average Level 0 human would be dead on the spot. Of course, Z also had Toughness of 30, which meant she might not even notice a Level 0 Unknown hitting her. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Regardless, I was not comfortable with the idea of leaving her outside.

"Maybe you can help me then," I said.

"I'm looking for Juliet Beaumont and her son, Toby. I checked their house and they weren't there. Do you know them?"

"Sure, Toby's been coming since kindergarten. Nice kid, big Pokemon fan. He shows me his best cards." The guard smiled, but the smile faded quickly. He looked over his shoulder at the school, then shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I've seen them since this started. I'm sure they're not inside, though, because if they were here, I'd know." Not a surprise. I inhaled, grateful again for the Resilience boost that was keeping me upright. It was gonna suck when that wore off.

"Olivia! Olivia!" I heard my name being called and looked up. Danny was jogging down the steps from the main school building. [Uncanny Insight] suggested something upsetting had happened, because he'd gone from Level 4 and bubbly, to Level 5 and unhappy. I hoped his dad was okay. I forced a smile as he approached.

"Can you let her in, please, Mr. Marino?" Danny said to the guard.

"No animals allowed, kiddo. No exceptions."

"Who do you need me to get permission from?" Danny asked.

"Because my dad's still talking with Principal Nakamura, but I can promise you that both of them would want Olivia and her dog to come in. Like, a lot." Mr. Marino hesitated.

"It's okay, Danny. Toby and his mom aren't here, anyway, so I don't need to come in. We'll just keep moving."

"But I really, really want to talk to you." Danny's eyes were dark. All the exuberance from earlier was gone. It wasn't idle curiosity in his voice, but need.

"Please?"

"How about you come out? Walk with us," I suggested. Danny looked back at the main building.

"I promised my dad that if he slept, I wouldn't leave. He's not sleeping yet, but…"

"I promised your dad I wouldn't let you out," Marino rumbled. Danny gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes and then simply faded from view.

"That is seriously cool," I said to the space where he had been standing. He faded back in again.

"But I did promise my dad and I don't want him to have to come looking for me. I don't think he's slept at all since the first day. That night was bad."

"The second day was worse," Marino's expression was grim. Like almost any teenage girl trained to be "good," I used to get trapped in conversations that I wanted no part of. Jules had to hand-hold me through learning what she called conversational aikido, the art of slipping out of a conversation you don't like with a distraction or a change of subject. I was gonna use that skill right now, because any and all conversations about the worst parts of the apocalypse? Hard pass.

"All right, I'll come in," I said hastily to Danny, before turning to Marino and saying, "Let me reassure you." I nodded toward Zelda.

"Just like people, dogs can have the System in their head. Cats, too. If they do, they're immune to mana-poisoning, which is the thing that makes other animals start attacking. And when they get the System, they get abilities, just like people do."

"Okay?" Marino sounded wary, and not at all like he was ready to be persuaded.

"Let her lick you." He stared at me, then at Zelda, then back at me with an "Oh, hell, no," expression. Danny said impatiently, "Olivia knows stuff. That's why we need to talk to her. If she leaves now because you won't let her in, I promise Principal Nakamura will—""All right, all right," Marino spoke over him. He leaned down and held his hand out to Zelda.

"I like dogs. I just don't think…" Zelda obligingly licked his palm.

"…" Marino's jaw dropped. Mouth open, he gazed at Zelda in wonder. He straightened. The nerves were gone. He looked calm, resolute.

"What is that?" I smiled. I was still riding my own Resilience high.

"Emotional Support for the Win, a Level 1 canine ability. We need to help more dogs get into the System, rather than leaving them alone to become mana-crazed." I was pretty sure abandoned dogs were being sent to a sanctuary planet, not going mana-crazed, but talking about that seemed likely to get me that crazy label that I hadn't worried about earlier.

"So can Olivia come in now?" Danny asked.

"Okay." Marino nodded, moving aside.

"If anyone complains, tell 'em… I don't know, tell 'em to talk to your dad."

"Got it. Thanks, Mr. M." Danny grabbed my hand and tugged me through the gate. He didn't feel like a kid eager to show me his toys, though. As soon as we were far enough from the gate not to be overheard, he said, "I need to talk to you. Alone." He paused and scanned the surroundings. I disengaged my hand from his and said, "That might have been easier if you'd come for a walk, but why don't we just sit on the ground over there?"

I pointed toward an unoccupied section of wall, beside the steps, but well out of the flow of traffic. With our backs to the wall, we'd be able to see anyone approaching in time to fall silent.

"Yeah, okay." He looked at our hands and added a mumbled, "Sorry. Just—" He looked up at me and my heart sank. Whatever was wrong was Wrong. He was on the verge of panic.

"It's cool," I said.

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out." Part of me—not the nicest part—was deeply annoyed. I had things to do! A girl to save, a friend to find, a hydra in need of head chopping. Water barrels to set up, for goodness sake. A much larger part of me was paying a debt. Not to Danny, obviously, but to Jack. Jack who had so patiently walked me through the System, teaching me about attributes and traits and abilities and all the crazy. If Jack hadn't been my clearing buddy in the challenge scenario…

"I leveled up," Danny said as we made our way to the spot I'd pointed out.

"I saw. Congratulations." His inhale could have been the breath before bursting into tears, but he exhaled instead. When we reached the wall, he turned and slid down it, pulling his knees up when he landed. He put his head down on them, hiding his face. Tears? Or just tired? Or something else entirely? [Uncanny Insight] wasn't telling me. I sat down next to him, cross-legged, and Zelda joined us. She looked at Danny, then glanced at me. Him, too? I gave her a tiny nod. Go for it.

She nudged his arm, then stuck her head entirely under it, shoved it up, and licked his cheek.

"Oh!" He sat upright. Not crying, I noted, but with the tightness around his eyes that suggested he'd been fighting it off.

"Tell me about it," I said.

"The whole thing?" I shrugged.

"Whatever I need to know to help you."

"I don't…" He looked away.

"I don't want you to think…" [Uncanny Insight] filled in the rest: shame, and underneath it, fear that I'd think less of him.

"Shall I tell you about my criminal record?" I asked brightly. His head shot in my direction.

"I know, I bet your dad would be horrified, wouldn't he? Hanging out with criminals? He'd probably get a restraining order to keep you away from me. If it's any comfort, it was non-violent, stupid, and not at all intentional. But if you think you can shock me, you're gonna be competing against all the women I was in jail with, and…" I shrugged again and shook my head, mock-sad.

"… I don't think you can win. Some of them were scary." He looked down again and muttered, "I'm scary." I snorted.

"Tell me about it," I said, this time firmer.

"I will not be scared." He kept his eyes on his knees as he started and I had to strain to hear him, but his voice got stronger as he went. He'd been with his dad at a soccer game when the first System message hit. His dad had immediately rushed to get them home so he could get into uniform and to the station, but on the way they'd run into one of the mana-crazed creatures. A raccoon attacking a woman. His dad wasn't armed, but they'd stopped and fought it off anyway.

Danny had gotten in a couple hits with a golf club, but his dad had mostly killed it with a tire iron. His hits were enough, though. Level One.

"The woman…" Danny's voice faltered.

"You don't have to tell me that part." He nodded.

"My dad told me not to do anything until we had a chance to talk about it. We made it home and my mom and sister were there. Dad had to go to work, didn't want to leave us alone, so we all went down to the station. It's in the City Hall. San Celeste is a pretty small town. City Hall, and the DMV, and the library, and the police station, they're all right there." He stopped talking.

"Okay, so you're at City Hall with your family."

"With my mom and sister," he corrected me.

"The police were getting so many calls. The dispatcher couldn't keep up. She couldn't even answer the phone fast enough." He fell silent.

"So you're at City Hall with your mom and your sister," I prompted again.

"This guy came in. Such a fucking asshole." I'm not shy about swearing, but I knew from the vehemence in Danny's tone that the guy was a Bad Guy.