Chapter Twenty-Three: A Glimpse of the Wider World

TWENTY-THREE

“What does it look like? Those guardians were active when we made it to the saferoom entrance. We didn’t have a hard hitter. Aside from me,” Tyler started lifting up her injured arm.

“More and more of them activated the longer we fought. We got overwhelmed and retreated, those of us who were still alive. That’s all that it took. We didn’t have enough points to buy anything besides basic healing supplies and nobody was in good enough shape to fight.” Tyler spoke with a tired fire of someone beat down and in pain.

“We cleared them easily enough. It does take a few times to get the rhythm of it right,” Darren admitted.

“Well, what now Darren?” Tyler asked. Even tired she looked defiant and proud. Roan could respect that.

“We have started a group. The Tower Climber Association. It’s a way to share resources and help each other survive. There is a fee to enter.” Darren gave her a grim smile.

“He’s more ruthless than I thought.”

“In return you will get healing supplies and what we have discovered including a way to farm your own credits.”

“We don’t have credits to spare. Everything went to healing supplies and food,” Tyler admitted.

“We can take credit,” Darren said. Roan felt his brow furrow as he thought of the coffins outside of the new saferoom and how they would swell his own account.

“Then I agree. I obviously can’t speak for everyone though,” Tyler said. Her words were enough to get others to join in, though. Healing elixirs began to appear around Darren with small pops of air. He handed them to Tyler and she handed them out to everyone else in her party.

“She’s important. Or Darren thinks she’s important. Subtle signs of reinforcing hierarchy with her handing out the elixirs.” Roan turned away from them and leaned toward Taoya, trying to keep his voice quiet.

“The coffins. You and me?” Taoya snorted and shook his head before attempting to whisper back.

“We need the credits for the association. Especially after this.” Roan winced at the large man’s voice, that even attempting to be subtle, was loud enough everyone heard him.

“You and I need the credits. The association still gets its ten percent,” Roan argued.

“Ten percent and the association gets two full coffins. We each get four,” Taoya said. Roan frowned as his greedy nature rejected giving up such a large chunk of change. Dragging a coffin by himself was out of the question though.

“We still have to kill the remaining guardians,” Taoya reminded him as they turned around and started back toward the portal.

“There’s still a team waiting there. They can fight a single guardian at a time. As long as multiple don’t open up,” Roan said. He wanted the points from killing the guardians himself. More greed, more desire to watch his bank account swell.

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“I’m not fully rested. Might have one more big fight left in me,” Taoya admitted as they stepped through the portal and back into the cul-de-sac. The sounds of fighting was muted, not the heavy battle of a guardian fight but the slow fighting against the weak skeletons.

“If you’re that desperate for money, then hop into an alley and start clearing them out,” Taoya said.

“It’s inefficient and time consuming. Exhausting as well,” Roan countered.