Chương 96: 94: Valuable Life Lessons

David was happy to show off. He didn't show off the way I would have. Or how I would have tried to, anyway. Before he even attempted to lift the truck, he messed around with jacks and levers and braces. It required plenty of consultations with the other somewhat mechanically inclined people, namely the guy with the gun and the dad, who was doing a lot better after he finally drank the healing potion. Bryce stood around making apparently random suggestions, and Jack stuck close, too, but mainly seemed to listen.

Missy, Megan, and Kara stood in a little clump, watching them. Yep, the gender norms were alive and well. I ran laps. Not really, but I was buzzed from all the mana in my system, and I had to work it off. I let my Wayfarer's Jacket lead me toward the nearest rift, hunting for escaped monsters along the way.

"Just getting the dogs a little exercise," was how I excused my absence. I didn't mention that my points in Perception and that awful [Senses Beyond Sight] ability meant I could overhear everything they said from quite far away, and that the thought of joining either conversation was… well, I just didn't want to. The guy conversation was bad enough: jack positioning and load distribution and something about cribbing, which I was pretty sure wasn't about plagiarizing or ritzy houses or baby beds.

Yeah, I had no idea. But the girl conversation was almost worse. While I didn't think the boar came anywhere close to a near-death experience, Kara, Megan, and even Missy didn't feel the same. Granted, near-death experiences are exciting. People need to process, and Kara deserved the time she needed. But I didn't know what Megan and Missy were so stressed about. The boar would have had to finish with the pickup and Rifle Guy's truck before it even made it to Bryce's Jeep.

Surely Bryce would have gotten it together to do a U-turn and drive away before then. And Missy had plenty of time to do the same. Plus, you know, me. And the dogs, and Jack, and her own Level 9 or 10 skills. She wasn't in any danger. It wouldn't have been tactful to say so, though. Avoiding the conversation entirely was much easier than keeping my mouth shut. The dogs and I didn't find any monsters to kill.

The Wayfarer's Jacket didn't give me a sense of how far away my intended destination was, so maybe the rift was miles away. Or maybe the boar had been killing monsters. Maybe the boar had reached Level 11 exactly the way the rest of us did: by killing the mana creations invading the planet. That would be nice, wouldn't it? We only spent about fifteen minutes on our monster search slash walk, but we returned to tension.

The first attempt at righting the truck had failed when one of the car jacks broke under the weight. Bryce was done. The truck had shifted during the lift, enough that he felt we could all drive around it. He was sympathetic, yada yada, but wanted to get back on the road. He suggested we stop by a towing company in Spruce Gap and let them know about the problem. I looked at how the truck had moved.

It was easy to see what had happened: the strongest person in the (metaphorical) room didn't know his own strength—or, you know, Strength—and had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not lifting up, but pushing sideways. I touched David's arm as Bryce continued to explain how stopping by a towing company meant we would definitely not be abandoning two people on the side of the road. When David glanced at me, I jerked my head in the truck's direction and grinned at him.

"Let's do it."

"Let's—" He looked at me as if I were insane. I was already familiar with the expression from my pre-Apocalypse days, but I sure was seeing a lot of it these days.

"Jack, Missy." I waved the two of them to the side of the truck with the wheels.

"When we get it up, help us pull it over." David laughed.

"We can't lift a truck. It's gotta be two tons. Minimum." I threw my arms into the air like a triumphant prizefighter. Yeah, the mana was still buzzing.

"13 Strength, which means I am stronger than the strongest person who has ever lived." I dropped my arms and gave him a wry look.

"And you're what, at 20 Strength? 22? A lot stronger than me. It might not be easy, but you already moved it once. I think we've got this." It wasn't easy. We did have it. Five minutes later, the truck was right-side up, and Kara and her dad were trying to clean out the airbag debris so they could see if it was driveable. Rifle Guy, sort of sheepish, rubbed the back of his neck and pointed out that the boar was effectively a few hundred pounds of meat and did we want to butcher it here to divvy it up?

It was very practical of him. And it would be such a practical thing to do because food would be scarce soon, plus what a great learning opportunity. I knew nothing about butchering animals, except I felt like maybe you were supposed to drain the blood before something went bad? And do something with the guts, maybe? Here was my chance to learn valuable life skills that would surely come in useful as the world fell apart.

"You know, thank you so much for the offer," I said.

"Kara's dad mentioned that she's got kids at home, so she might want to take you up on that, but our vehicles are pretty full. Maybe David and I could help you move the body before we leave?" A little more discussion, a bit of heavy lifting, and Rifle Guy (whose name was actually Kevin) was going to escort the driveable pickup truck, with the boar's body in the back, home to Kara's kids, where the kids could get the valuable lesson in butchering boars. I hoped it didn't give them nightmares. Kevin and Kara.

They'd make a cute couple if their apocalypse tilted that way. Finally—although really, the delay had probably taken less than an hour total—all dogs and people were loaded up and we were back on the move again. Of course, I had notifications I hadn't looked at. I opened them and the only reason that I didn't immediately start cursing up a storm was because Missy was still sort of freaked out by the whole boar thing. All that feelings processing hadn't really accomplished much.

(At least three of my therapists would have had to hold back their deep, pained sighs if I said that in a session.) If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The first notification said: Review Complete: Alternative Integration Enhancement Conditions accepted. Enhancement triggered. So it was done. Whatever it was, it had happened, and we just had to live with the consequences.

Or, you know, die with them, which was probably what was going to happen to all those billions of people holed up in their houses, still hoping for someone to come save them. My stomach churned, and not from hunger. My quest had me saving five. Five people, that was possible. Billions were not. I put a hand out and touched the closest dog. Maybe I should ask Zelda for a kiss. That Resilience boost might come in handy. Instead, I took a deep breath. It was over.

I couldn't do anything about it, except set the thought aside and keep moving. If I let it get to me, I'd find the nearest bed, crawl under the covers, and stay there for days. My other notifications were nicer. No XP for me for killing a Level 11 Mana-Crazed Boar, given that I was Level 21, but my Local Population Stabilization quest was now at 2/5. Ha. So I'd saved Kara and her dad, but the System agreed with me that Missy and Megan weren't in danger.

I was not, of course, going to say anything smug about that out loud, but I felt it. Rifle Guy could have survived, too. The rest of the drive was beautiful and peaceful. I spent it too much in my head, trying to figure out my priorities if the world had just gotten tougher. Get Jack to Emma, that was first. I'd love to leave the second we got to the house, but he'd need a chance to say goodbye to his family. We'd need to find the nearest rift.

Should we head into Spruce Gap and talk to the locals, or trust that I could find it using the Wayfarer's Jacket? The terrain around here was dense, mountainous forest; the nearest rift might be inaccessible, even if it was relatively close. I barely noticed when Missy turned into the gravel driveway, but I started paying attention as we drove up to the house.

A vacation house in the North Carolina mountains with a safe room and a stocked pantry was bound to be nice, but this one was the kind of rustic that involved reclaimed wood, granite, and way more glass than anyone trying to survive the apocalypse could be excited about. At least the glass was mostly on the second and third stories. Bryce and company had arrived before us, and they'd all gotten out of the Jeep.

They were exchanging words, and then Bryce disappeared into the house, while David and Megan waited to greet us. And, assuming basic manners, to help us unload the SUV. Okay, maybe Bryce really had to pee. As is probably obvious, I did not end things on good terms with my ex-husband. But I really needed to stop holding that against Bryce. He'd done nothing to me. Except suggest we use my dogs as poison testers.

And his willingness to abandon Kara and her dad on the highway was more callous than I'd expect from the average human being. Still, I was being unfair. Missy parked next to the Jeep, in front of the second of the three garage doors, and we all piled out of the car, dogs included.

"Explore," I told them, "but stay close, and only kill monsters. We're going to be leaving soon, so don't go too far."

"Leaving soon? But—" Missy responded immediately, looking toward Jack on the other side of the car, and then sighed.

"Yes. Of course. You have a long way to go. I'll just…" She gestured toward Jack, not finishing her sentence.

"You guys are going already?" Megan said.

"Are you sure? You know, you're welcome to stay. The house has something like seven bedrooms. There's plenty of room. I know Bryce was weird about the dog food, but I'm sure we could manage." She gave a little laugh, almost sheepish.

"Well, or you could. That was a lot of meat you passed up back there." A lot of bloody meat I'd have had to carry around without a container. And no, I was absolutely not stashing raw meat in my spatial pouch or pockets, though yes, of course I'd thought of it.

"Our friend Emma is waiting for us," I said.

"She's looking forward to getting Jack's help."

"Right, of course." Megan glanced over to where David and Missy were saying goodbye to Jack.

"Um, I wanted to thank you." I wasn't taken aback, just surprised. Okay, maybe a little taken aback. What exactly was she thanking me for? It better not be something cringe like being friends with her geeky, socially awkward younger brother, because I was absolutely going to stomp on her if she even hinted as much.

"You saved our lives back there. That monster was huge. I don't know what you did, but no way were we gonna get by it. Even the guy with the rifle, Kevin, he didn't get out of his truck until you'd gotten it down to normal size. It was still big. Normal size was plenty big. But the monster size…" She shuddered.

"You would have been fine." I knew this for a fact, of course, because my quest didn't give me credit for saving her life, so it wasn't as dismissive as it probably sounds.

"You could have just done a U-turn and gotten out of there while it was busy with the pickup." She shrugged.

"Sure. But we couldn't have made it here, then." She waved at the house.

"That's the only road. There's not an alternative route. And we didn't have enough gas left to make it back home. I kept telling Bryce... yeah, never mind." She shook her head, looking tired. And then she muttered, almost to herself, "You are allowed to refill a car's gas tank before it hits E. And it's a damn good idea to do so if you don't know when you'll be able to get gas again." I pressed my lips together to stop myself from saying anything, but my entire body—heart, mind, soul—winced in sympathy for her.

I remembered those arguments. Not about the gas tank, but there is literally not a law that says plates have to be on the left side of the dishwasher. That law does not exist. If you think it does, you're probably related to my ex's mother. I opened my mouth, then I closed it again. I wanted to invite her to come with us to Emma's enclave, but I couldn't suggest that without Jack's okay.

"Hey, Olivia, okay if we help unload and then stay for lunch?" Jack called to me across the car.

"Mom promises to make it quick." I hesitated for a second—maybe I should go looking for the nearest rift on my own and come back when I'd found it? —but then said, "Sure, of course." Bryce showed up just as we finished unloading the car, stashing the pantry supplies and tools in the garage, and leaving the suitcases by the door.

"Come in, come in," he said, all jovial host.

"Great news. The satellite phone still works, so I had a chance to talk to my father."

"That's wonderful," Missy said.

"I hope they're doing well. Your parents, your family?"

"They are. He's planning on heading here soon. Just has to get permission from Command." He gave a weird little laugh, looking at me, and every one of my nerves twitched as [Uncanny Insight] went wild. Okay, exaggeration. I really needed to stop being so paranoid.

"Megan, why don't you show your parents inside and help them get settled?" Technically, Bryce's words were a question. They sounded more like an order. Megan caught it, too, a fleeting frown crossing her forehead before she said, "Sure. Which bedroom should I give them?"

"Whatever they like is fine." Okay, I was not paranoid. Bryce hadn't taken his eyes off me. As Megan ushered her parents inside, I glanced toward the yard. The big dogs were roaming, checking out the interesting smells. Zelda had flopped onto her side at the edge of the driveway and was enjoying a patch of sun. A whistle would summon them, of course, but it felt like overkill. Whatever Bryce was up to, I should be able to deal with it on my own.

He'd been standing in the doorway and turned, putting his back to the wall to make room for everyone to pass him rather than stepping aside. As soon as they were all inside, though, he stepped onto the walkway, the open door behind him.

"Olivia," he said.

"I hope you and Jack will reconsider staying. I mentioned you to my father—just filling him in on the trip, you know—and he'd very much like to meet you." I just bet he would. But I had no intention of sticking around to meet the army, so I forced a smile and said, "I'm afraid our friend Emma will be waiting for us. I would have liked to head back yesterday, so we'll be leaving as soon as we can." Jack was in the garage, the garage door open.

He'd been rummaging around in one of the boxes, looking for the lunch ingredients that Missy had wanted, but he stopped and straightened. He'd heard something in my voice.

"Are you sure? My father recognized your name. He'd really like to 'open discussions,' as he said." Bryce chuckled.

"Sorry for the jargon. He can't help himself." I blinked. He recognized my name? That—what?

"He recognized my name?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. Apparently word has spread." Bryce chuckled again. It didn't feel like real laughter, but like fake charm. I didn't scowl, but I didn't smile either.

"Well, unfortunately, I don't have time to hang around. You'll have to give your father my regards." Bryce's smile held lots of white teeth and not a single hint of real warmth.

"It wasn't actually an invitation." From behind his back, he pulled out a gun.

"I'm going to have to insist. My father's very anxious to speak to you."