Apocalypse Online #1 by Conor Malachi

Author:Conor Malachi [Malachi, Conor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Keep Evolving Studios
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Twenty-One

BRAD

It took a while to get the normals back on their feet. In the meantime, Brad’s party stuffed their packs full of all the medical supplies they could carry. Thanks to Norman’s guidance, finding the gear and figuring out what they actually needed was a breeze. The others back at the mall were sure to appreciate having some nurses and a doctor around rather than relying entirely on Brad for healing, and it was highly likely that some of the normals would choose to become healers once they got to the mall.

Once they were ready, they armed up the normals with the fire axes and knives they were using before the aether poisoning took them out of the fight. Kayla, a brunette nurse, was the smallest of the women, wielding a short knife. Brad wasn’t sure if it had come out of a patient or what, but it looked like it was at least pretending to be a combat knife. Lillie was a bit of a chubby redhead packing a bigger knife she’d probably pulled from the hospital’s kitchen. Heather, the blonde, was the largest of the nurses, including Norman, standing at six feet tall. She carried one of the fire axes, looking more like a Viking to Brad than a nurse. Really all she was missing was the haircut, war paint, and a change of outfit and she’d be set. Then there was Ralph, or Dr. Dalton as he insisted on being called. The portly man carried the last of the axes but he looked uncomfortable carrying his own weight, let alone the weapon’s. At least the man followed orders.

They snuck through the city streets toward Cameron Park, keeping quiet other than the odd, whispered conversation. To Brad’s surprise the streets were completely clear, a sight he found more unsettling than the hordes of seeders roaming around. After the ambush at the hospital, he expected the seeders to be waiting to burst out of every building. None came. It left Brad to wonder if they were busy with other prey, building their numbers, or establishing some sort of nightmarish alien hive.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Chet cut into Brad’s thoughts. “Don’t you guys think it was a little bit weird the guy on the radio asked specifically for people who took the nano-pill?”

Brad raised a brow. “Not really. They’re probably a bunch of normals who learned about aether poisoning from other pill poppers and need the aether pulled from them. Hopefully it’s not a lot—I’m barely back to ten mana.”

Aron agreed. “Yeah, and it’s not like every single person who played Apocalypse Online got or took a pill. Plenty of people were on the Apocalypse Online forums discussing all sorts of info since the invasion started. At least before the internet went down.”

Raechel shrugged. “Doesn’t hurt to be cautious. I used to play on Arma 3 survival servers and calling for help, or pretending to be friendly, was a great way to set up ambushes.”

“You guys weren’t like that, though,” Norman said.

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