When the dawn came, Dmitri called a camp-wide meeting for anyone who could still stand. Lucy remained in the healer building with half a dozen patients. It was a sobering thought when Richard counted ten people at the meeting, including himself. More people were coming out of Lucy’s building in body bags than healed. He counted himself lucky.

  Dmitri talked about the number of survivors. They were hit hard. The guards got hit the hardest, with only three members left. Jace was dead. Reggie, who was training to replace Jace, had also died. The remaining three guards quietly discussed among themselves to choose a leader to represent their class. The only guard he recognized besides Evan was Shrub.

  Richard placed his hands against his mouth, staring ahead. Marcus, group leader of the scavengers, was with Lucy now to see if they could restore his sight. Meredith was dead. The scavenger group was also down to three people.

  Elwyndor had lost her hand. As hard as Lucy tried, it couldn’t be saved. Timick had locked himself in his workshop, working on a new limb for her. Amrynn had died. Everyone knew Timick would take her place, but no one expected it would happen so soon. Richard got the impression that Timick had thrown himself into his work to grieve. Or perhaps to avoid grieving. Either way, Richard understood. He could ignore the people he didn’t know, but hearing the facts that their numbers had gone from a little over forty to less than twenty, he couldn’t ignore that.

  Dmitri finished reading the names of the dead. With shaking hands, he placed the scroll in his inventory. “We have too much to do to mourn. Guards and farmers with a level of twenty or higher, get the gate ready to fix. Move rubble away, keep watch over the forest, make sure nothing comes in. Potion makers…” Dmitri trailed off. “Kali. You need to be ready to make some stones. We’ll have some farmers help you.”

  Richard’s chest constricted as he remembered Amrynn’s face. She had been so kind to him when Richard had taken his first tour. Then, she was gone. There used to be three potion makers; now there was one. Amrynn had been so excited when she gave her part of the teaching to the newbies. When she got her specialized gift in potions, she didn’t believe she’d be the only one. That two other potion makers came later thrilled her. Now they were back to one.

  “We need everyone else working to fix the damage to the farmlands right now. Once we get a better understanding of what we’re working with, we can then take the next steps. Don’t lose hope, my friends. Order will provide.”

  “Order will provide,” a few people repeated.

  Richard left with the other lower-level people. Richard noticed Dmitri talking to two other people quietly. He heard snippets of words like “dig deep” and “mass grave”. Richard stared ahead as he made his way to the farmlands.

  In the early dawn light, Richard got his instructions from Elwyndor. A large section of farmland had been destroyed. It might be too late in the season to replant, but Elwyndor wanted to try anyway.

  They didn’t waste time. Richard followed behind a woman who pulled a contraption that moved the dirt into lines. Richard’s job was to follow behind and plant seeds in the holes. Before he found farming tedious and dull. Now he understood the quiet desperation that radiated from everyone. Almost half of the farmland had been destroyed. Elwyndor had gone with the higher-level farmers to salvage what they could, but she couldn’t hide the distress on her face.

  “Hi,” Richard said to the farmer next to him. She was tall, with earthy brown hair. It took Richard another moment to realize he’d been working next to an earth nymph without registering it.

  The woman nodded in greeting. “Hi. I’m Kendra.”

  “Richard. I’m… new.” He dropped another seed. “Which is why I need to ask. Are we… going to starve?”

  “No.” The ease with which Kendra said that made Richard believe she was genuine. He tried to use her confidence to build his own, but there was something she was hiding. All Richard had to do was study her for more than a few seconds before she let out a sigh. “The silos weren’t attacked. We have four years’ worth of food in there. But…”

  “But we’ve never been attacked like this before,” Richard finished for her.

  “Right.” Kendra winced, then looked at the gaping hole in the gates made larger because of the workers clearing the debris from it. “We just lost half of our members, and half of our farms. So far, no one has arrived to replace the members we lost.” Kendra dropped more seeds into the ground, and Richard followed. His brows furrowed. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Perhaps we need a week or two to prepare before we get an influx of people. Or…”

  Richard let Kendra’s words trail off. He didn’t dare follow the natural conclusion of her fears. Creatures from the forest could spill into the camp while the gates are broken and wipe the rest of them out.

  Richard hadn’t even been here a full week. He could see it on everyone’s faces. They were putting aside their fears to make sure the camp was protected again, but they were one more attack away from utter chaos.

  It was another few hours before Richard realized he hadn’t had breakfast, though it didn’t matter. He had a small appetite. He kept hitting his healing ability and was shocked when a few hours later he got a notification that filled his vision.

  Advanced Health (basic) > Advanced Health (advanced)

  (3hrs cooldown) > (2hrs cooldown)

  Heal (one) wound(s) > Heal (two) wound(s)

  Evan was right. Healing the wounds on his arms was the best way to upgrade that skill, even if it meant living with throbbing arms for a long time. He glanced at his skill tree and saw the new upgrade already in place.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Advanced Health (active) (advanced) (cooldown 2hrs)

  Heal (two) wound(s)

  (This is for your body only)

  He liked that an hour had been shaved off the cooldown time. He mentally chose it and felt two more wounds heal. Once Lucy was less busy, he would ask if he could unwrap the bandages to see how many cuts he had left. There couldn’t be many now. Then again, he might have healed both arms before Lucy stopped being busy.

  Richard appreciated that his arms were getting better, and the throbbing slipped away. He busied himself with his work, and didn’t think too much of it until he heard the bell chime. Richard instinctively pulled the sword from his inventory, his heart pounding as fragments of memories from last night raced across his mind.

  “Don’t let it get past the hole!”

  That was Evan shouting, not his memories. They were still patrolling the walls. Of course they would need to, but the reality of it shocked him again. Some creature’s heavy breathing was heard, then the shrieks as it was no doubt stabbed multiple times. The guards took care of it before it even reached the hole.

  Richard didn’t realize he stood with his sword until Kendra looked back at him, already a few paces ahead of him.

  “Come on, Richard. You’re not a guard. We have a job to do.”

  Richard understood what she meant, but a few hours ago he had been attacking splicers like he was a guard. He placed the sword back in his inventory and went back to planting seeds, his mind still swirling with thoughts.

  In a single night, he leveled up a few more times. Clearly, the system encouraged more hands-on experience. But he was also painfully aware of why they couldn’t do that all the time. He and his other newbies survived because the stronger members of base two protected them. If they were on their own, Richard doubted he could last. It was smart to keep newbies inside the walls and make sure they leveled up slowly to get strong enough to survive outside the wall. It was a good system. After all, they had thirty years to smooth it out. If only the apocalypse hadn’t entered the base camp last night.

  Richard didn’t bother checking to see how much more of the farmland they had to plant. All he knew was that they had to get it done as soon as possible. The desperation kept him quiet, leaving him with his thoughts of the previous night. Of the pain in the splicer’s eyes before he ever touched it with a sword. He didn’t think he could kill, but he had no trouble killing those abominations last night.

  The abominations were in such pain. Who had done that to them? What sick person saw a group of animals and rearranged their limbs? Someone inspired by Chaos, no doubt. It was the first time Richard had thought about the validity of these beings, Order and Chaos. A part of him had to admit that seeing the personification of Death led to the validity of the higher beings. Death seemed in charge of this apocalypse, even if everyone said Chaos was. Richard tried not to feel demoralized. How were they supposed to defeat Death himself? Death was an inevitable concept that this strange world could now see as a pure, personified being. It seemed as impossible to defeat as… Chaos.

  “R-Richard?”

  He glanced up from his depressing reverie to see Fang standing before him. How did Fang sneak up on him?

  “Hey. What’s up?” Richard asked.

  Fang’s eyes were large and sad. It took Richard embarrassingly long to realize Fang had tears in his eyes.

  “Fang?” Richard asked again.

  “I’m starving. Can you help?”

  Richard stared at his fellow newbie and saw all the things the poor guy didn’t want to say. Obviously, starving was only the tip of the iceberg, but it was the thing he focused on. There was a gaping hole in their wall; creatures still prowled the forest. They had lost so many, and for someone like Fang, who was scared and having a hard time already, this must have hit hard.

  For the first time since he came to base two, Richard found he didn’t want to abandon his job on the farm. However, Fang came to him seeking help, because anyone who looked at the poor newbie longer than five seconds could see he was unraveling. If Richard wanted a friend, this was a necessary step in building a friendship.

  “Kendra, can you take this?” Richard handed her the bag of seeds.

  She about objected when she noticed Fang. She then nodded, taking the bag and placing it in her inventory. “Both of you go talk to Dmitri.”

  Richard nodded his thanks before motioning for Fang to follow. Richard had no idea where Dmitri was, but there weren’t many places to check. They made their way carefully through the newly planted rows before reaching the main area. Fang stared ahead, all his emotions spent. Richard searched for Dmitri. Many people were at the gate clearing up the debris. The potion maker, Kali, was working with a few other people, stirring something in pots. He was surprised to see someone pull a stone out of the pot. Is that what this entire wall was made of? Not chiseled from rock, but created in pots?

  Richard tore his gaze away, watching for their leader. He walked over to a farmer woman, Rochel, who was carrying three stones with ease.

  “Do you know where Dmitri is?” Richard asked.

  “Check the healers? He often helps Lucy out during times like this,” Rochel said.

  The two newbies headed toward the healers. It was at the door that Richard paused, then glanced at Fang. “Hey, why don’t you stay here, and I’ll see if Dmitri’s in here.”

  Fang nodded, his eyes glazed over. Richard remembered what it had looked like when he was in the healer’s room. People on beds, horrible injuries, the stench of blood and something earthy. If Richard hadn’t been injured and overwhelmed himself, the sight would have sickened him. A lot of people had left the healers by now, but Fang wasn’t in a state to see even one injured person.

  Richard walked into the healers, seeing a few of the beds filled. Lucy had her magical glasses on, a makeshift table at the front of the room, working quickly. Dmitri was spooning some liquid into someone’s mouth. Richard couldn’t tell who it was because they were covered in bandages.

  “Dmitri? Fang’s hungry. Is it okay if I get him some food?” Richard asked.

  “No,” Lucy said instead. She squeezed something into a beaker with a dropper. “If you all last until dinner, you’ll level up your ‘reduce hunger’ skill. He’ll thank us for it later.”

  Richard focused on Dmitri, who didn’t correct Lucy as he kept feeding the patient. To them, the conversation was done, but Richard realized it was because they hadn’t seen Fang’s state. Instead, Richard dropped his voice. “If he doesn’t get food now, I’m worried he might have a breakdown and do something stupid.”

  Dmitri glanced up at that. Lucy rolled her eyes and went back to whatever she was doing. Richard tried to keep his voice steady, but it was hard when he voiced his fears. Fang was in a bad state of shock, and needed help.

  Dmitri rubbed his jaw, thinking, then reached out to him. Richard was confused, holding out his hand as though to shake, but Dmitri touched his palm as if he was unlocking a code. Richard frowned, staring.

  “That will get you one access to the silos, and will let you leave with the food in your inventory. Anything in your arms will jump right back onto the shelves. Give Fang a rest, cook some food, get him better.”

  Richard nodded, overwhelmed. He thought he would bring Fang to Dmitri, and someone else would take care of him. He had no idea how to help someone who had a severe case of apocalyptic battle shock. But who else could help? Everyone else with a higher level was busy building the base camp back up. The responsibility hung over his head as Dmitri went back to feeding the patient. Richard left, and Lucy shot him a look as he did so. He shouldn’t feel annoyed with the woman who was drowning in work. Fang didn’t need to focus on leveling up his hunger ability. He needed to get better. And Richard, somehow, was the person everyone expected to fulfil that responsibility.