Chapter 14 – For Those Awake

Susan Pov.

The cave smelled sweet, but Susan only smelled Jerry’s blood on her clothes.

She sat in the dark.

Her back was pressed against the cold limestone wall, her fingers wrapped tight around the dull screen of her dead phone. The picture of her homescreen—of her family—a distant memory.

Everyone else was out cold, buried deep under their grass beds and duvets. They were breathing in the heavy, oily perfume of the forest.

The air made them soft. It made them forget about Floor 7, the shattered hallway, and the things that had butchered their families.

Susan refused to forget.

Anger was something she fed like a fire, using the burning grief to fight off the heavy, numbing drowsiness pulling at her limbs.

Going back to the apartment was out of the question. Normalcy was a joke. Normal was dead, rotting in a waterlogged corridor somewhere behind them.

A blank stare was all she had for the pitch black of the cave mouth, her mind drifting back to her husband.

Surviving wasn’t the goal anymore. The new plan was to become a monster—an engine of violence that would rip through anything responsible for taking her world away. If leveling up like a video game was the price, fine. The blade would carve its way through every magical door until there was nothing left to kill.

Her eyes drifted across the dim embers of the campfire, landing on the darkest corner of the recess.

Jake was sitting there. His posture was rigid.

He wasn’t asleep either. His chest moved in a strange, mechanical rhythm—four seconds in, four seconds out. She could tell from his stillness that something had alerted him.

Through the shadows, Susan met his gaze. Neither of them spoke. They didn’t need to.

Susan went completely still. She slipped her phone away, then tightened her grip on the cleaver until her knuckles throbbed.

Forgive me, Henry, my children, for the thing I am about to become.

***

Jake Pov.

The oily sensation in his brain was still trying to drag his thoughts into the mud.

Then, the stench of the intruders cut through the fog like a knife. It was heavy. Rotten.

Dozens of small, distinct footsteps were moving through the moss outside, tightening a massive circle around the cave mouth.

He nodded to Susan.

Jake slid across the hard floor of the cave and reached Sloane. He clapped his hand over her mouth, forming a tight seal. Her eyes snapped open, a muffled groan dying in her throat as Jake pressed a single finger to his lips.

He pointed toward the darkness deeper in the cavern. She understood right away, her gaze hardening.

They tried to wake the rest. But whatever was in the forest air had hit Lyle, Chloe, Edwin, and Glenn the hardest. They just groaned, wanting to go back to sleep.

There wasn’t enough time.

Jake urged Sloane and Susan into the shadows, hiding behind what little cover they could find in the deep recesses of the cave.

It wasn’t long before the monsters revealed themselves.

They were small and green, licking their lips as they spotted the sleeping humans like chunks of raw meat. Each step was muted. If it weren’t for the rustling bushes outside and the heavy stench, Jake wouldn’t have known they were there. They moved as quietly as mice.

Jake’s heart galloped like a trotting horse.

He caught Susan’s eye across the cave.

Not yet, he thought.

He needed the goblins further in. Attacking now would leave his group wide open. The timing had to be perfect.

The goblins stepped deeper into the cave. Most of them were small, scout-sized creatures, but three larger variants walked in the center of the pack. They stood a head taller, their muscles coiled tight.

Not yet…

Just as the line reached the sweet spot, the monsters stopped.

The leading goblins grinned, pulling round objects from their pouches. Jake smelled burning sulfur. Faint embers were tied to their waists. They brought the round objects to the embers, and fuses sparked to life.

Jake’s breath hitched. Bombs.

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One goblin was quicker than the rest, eager to see the carnage.

Realizing he had to act immediately, Jake summoned Gutter-Tooth. The heavy iron chains materialized around his forearm with a faint metallic clink. The sharp sound drew every goblin’s attention at once.

It was too late.

Jake snapped his arm forward, launching the scythe. The weapon flew true, driven by the mechanical line of his Tension skill. The blade sliced clean through the eager goblin’s wrist.

The severed hand fell. The bomb tumbled with it, bouncing straight back into the middle of the goblin ranks.

A blinding flash of white and orange light erupted as all the fuses detonated at once. The explosion blew the cave into temporary silence. Jake went blind, his retinas burning with the static image of vaporized monsters.

Thick smoke choked the cavern.

Thanks to his high perception, Jake’s vision returned faster than normal. He didn’t question the advantage. He just used it.

The cave floor was a mess of charred remains and scattered limbs. The surviving goblins were completely disoriented, stumbling over their own dead.

The thunderous blast finally jolted Edwin and the others awake. They scrambled for their weapons, blinking through the smoke in absolute horror. They were awake now.

Four of the larger goblins stomped through the haze, mostly unharmed. The danger was far from over.

Behind them, six archers raised shortbows.