Harvey woke to pale light seeping in through the windows, lighting up the dusty forge. He blinked the sleep away and rubbed his eyes, stretching as he sat up in the sleeping bag. He saw Hannah across the room, still snoring softly with her face mashed into her cloak, but was surprised to see three more haggard veilstriders asleep beside her. Harvey slipped his robe over his head, his boots on his feet, and tiptoed around the others to pick his way to the door. Opening the door, he reflexively covered his eyes to shield them from the white sunny day outside while they strained to adjust.

  It was interesting to see the town in the daylight. It looked less haunting and more run-down. The light from the white sun above wasn’t like the warm yellow rays on Earth; it was like everything was reflected off pristine snow, even though there was none to be seen. It gave everything a more washed-out color, which matched the gray, cloudless sky above.

  “Good morning!” Julian called out. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Better than I expected to,” Harvey replied.

  “Good. I bought some bread from the store for us. Want some?” Julian asked.

  Harvey nodded, and Julian tossed a chunk his way. It was surprisingly delicious, still warm like it came right out of the oven, even though they bought it from a magic mirror.

  “We’re running low on firewood. Do you mind coming with me to get more? We can wake Hannah to keep an eye on things with Gabe.” Julian asked

  “I’m awake,” Hannah said with a loud yawn, stumbling out of the forge.

  Julian passed her some bread, and she took a seat next to Gabe by the fire, chatting as they warmed up. Harvey and Julian each grabbed an axe and set off into the woods. The purple leaves gently billowing in the early morning breeze, causing shadows to dance at the edge of the treeline.

  “It’s almost pretty in the daytime,” Harvey commented. “Everything go alright on your watch?”

  “Yeah, got to know Gabe a little better. He’s a good kid. Definitely scared, but I think he’s gotten through the worst of the shock. He almost jumped out of his own skin when three more veilstriders walked into camp, but it didn’t take long to settle things down.” Julian replied.

  “That’s good. I know how he’s feeling,” Harvey said. “I saw those three sleeping inside. What’s their story?”

  “Pretty similar to ours, they each appeared alone in the forest and got attacked soon after. There’s an older man, probably in his mid-40s. He took the warrior class and found the other two just like I found you guys. The older woman got chased up a tree by a Bloodrunn, and the teenager was being swarmed by a Carrionwing when they found her.” Julian explained. “They’d been wandering the forest looking for somewhere to hole up when they had the same vision we did. They saw Veil’s End from the sky and started looking for us once it was over. Sounds like they had a few close calls on the way, but they showed up about an hour after we switched.”

  “If they saw the town in the vision, hopefully other people did too and are heading this way. I didn’t see any other buildings between us and the fortresses, but who knows, maybe there are other outposts out there.” Harvey said.

  “My thoughts exactly. We need to find them as fast as possible. I want to keep the fire going all day since it’s a lot easier to see the smoke now that it’s light. Hopefully, we can lead stragglers straight to us and then start searching the forest.” Julian explained, determination in his voice.

  The two found another fallen tree and continued discussing their plans. Julian annihilated the dead wood with brutal efficiency, so much so that Harvey stopped chopping and got out of the way so Julian could work faster. The two carried the stripped trunk back to camp before finding another.

  Julian delicately split a long log in half, creating a flat surface where Hannah used charcoal from the fire to write VEILSTRIDERS WELCOME in large black letters. They took the sign and placed it on the ground outside the gate.

  “Perfect, now anybody approaching the outpost knows it’s safe,” Julian said, admiring Hannah’s handiwork.

  “What now? Do we just wait around?” Hannah asked.

  “I think we should split up. Two of us can search for survivors, and the other two can hold down the fort.” Julian suggested.

  “I don’t love the idea of splitting up. We’re safer together.” Hannah interjected.

  “True, but we’re going to have to take some risks. The people who arrived last night are tired and hurt, and someone needs to stay and protect them. The fact they were out there at all means there are probably more.” Julian said.

  “Can’t Gabe just lock himself in the smithy with them? It’s sturdy enough.” Hannah continued.

  “No way, I’m not staying here alone.” Gabe shot back.

  “You won’t be alone, there’s 4 of you!” Hannah retorted.

  “Guys!” Harvey intervened. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll stay with Gabe, and we can start clearing out the town.”

  Hannah looked at him with concern clear on her face. Harvey smiled and gave a quick nod, which seemed to calm her down. Honestly, he was relieved. He felt better after talking to Hannah and getting his skill, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to leave the outpost yet.

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  “Thanks Harvey, we’ll help you get these zombie corpses out of the street before we leave. Don’t want them to be the first thing any new arrivals see when they get here.” Julian said.

  “As long as you’re up by the head.” Harvey joked.

  They spent the next 20 minutes hauling corpses a short walk from the city, where they piled them in a clearing. Gabe was clearly struggling the most with his new lot in life, gagging as the putrid stench assaulted his nostrils while they wrestled with the literal dead weight.

  At first, they attempted to salvage any usable clothing from the bodies, but when skin peeled up with a shirt Hannah pulled from a body, they gave up on being frugal.

  They finished their task and moved to the general store to get supplies for the journey and food for the new arrivals.

  “Guys, come look at this,” Julian said, pulling on Harvey’s robe without looking away from the mirror.

  Looped into the belt holding his sword at his side, his reflection showed a simple leather pouch covered with intricate patterns in black and purple ink. The purchase window read…

  Slipsack - G Grade

  “Slips your stuff… somewhere else! Where does it go? Nobody knows. But it will be right here when you need it!”

  “Sounds like a bad infomercial,” Hannah laughed, mimicking the cheery tone. “Slips your stuff… somewhere else!”

  “No way…” Harvey gasped. “Doesn’t that kind of sound like?”

  “A bag of holding,” Julian interjected.

  “What the heck is a bag of holding?” Hannah asked.

  “Bigger on the inside.” Julian smiled, looking at Harvey.

  “There’s no way you play D&D,” Harvey said flatly.

  “Why not?” Julian asked with a laugh.

  “You! Massive, muscular, presumably Italian firefighter who rescues people from burning buildings so often that the apocalypse doesn’t seem to be a big deal for you? Of course, I play, I’m a nerdy software developer. But YOU?” Harvey exaggerated.

  “Yeah, all the guys at the fire station got super into it last year. There’s a lot of downtime on a 48-hour shift, so if the chores are done and we haven’t gotten any calls, we’ll play for hours!” Julian laughed at Harvey’s over-the-top amazement.

  “Hey, nerds! What’s a bag of holding!” Hannah asked with a chuckle.

  “It’s bigger on the inside! Literally a bag that can hold more than it looks like.” Julian replied.

  “I know we’re not in real-life Dungeons and Dragons, but the basics are that the bag has access to some pocket dimension where you can store things. This would be super useful to have while you guys are out searching, so you don’t have to carry all the supplies.” Harvey added.

  “I found it while looking for a backpack. This is way better. I can’t afford it by myself, though.” Julian said.

  The slipsack cost a whopping 7000 merit, more than double Harvey’s current wealth of 3162 after his purchases the day before.

  “Can we pool our money together?” Harvey asked.

  “Probably, it wouldn’t make sense to have money if you can’t do what you want with it,” Hannah said. “Are you sure we need this right now, though?”

  “Yes!” Harvey and Julian said in unison, almost shouting.

  “Geez, alright!” Hannah said, taking a step back. They wondered how to transfer merit, but it turned out to be as simple as a thought. As soon as Harvey wanted to send merit to Julian, a screen popped up asking him how much to send. He debated for a moment before deciding on 2500 merit, leaving him enough for food, water, and essential supplies for the short term. With a mental assent, the screen disappeared.

  Harvey’s mind raced at the possibilities an item like this created. No more lugging corpses around. No logistical nightmare of carrying gallons of water on their back every time they left town. He’d seen magic, even used it himself, but if this Slipsack was everything he hoped it was, he’d really be sold.

  The bag in Julian’s reflection appeared in the real world a moment later, and the four crowded around him to get a closer look. He removed it from his waist and held it up. It fit comfortably in his palm, looking like a coin purse. The inky pattern meant nothing to Harvey, but the fine detail, despite not forming any imagery, hinted it wasn’t just for show.

  Pulling apart the drawstring, they saw an empty void of darkness perfectly separated from the world outside, as if it were covered with a sheet of glass. Julian gingerly pushed a finger towards the opening until it stopped.

  “I can’t put my finger in,” Julian muttered, prodding the opening.

  “Probably a good thing if you don’t want to lose the finger,” Harvey replied.

  Next, Julian took the sword from his belt and brought the tip to the pouch. The second it made contact, the entire thing disappeared. They huddled closer to peer down into the void, but it looked exactly the same, the sword completely gone from sight.

  “Where did it go?” Gabe asked.

  “Nobody knows!” Harvey and Hannah shot back in their worst infomercial voice, laughing harder when they both had the same idea.

  “When I’m holding the pouch, it’s like my mind can see inside it in a way my body can’t,” Julian said as the sword reappeared in his hand.

  They spent a few minutes playing with the slipsack, and he was stunned to experience what Julian described. He didn’t see the wand. It was more like a memory of it resting in empty space. With a thought, the wand reappeared, and the memory changed. Even with nothing in it, he could remember the void until he passed the pouch along and the memory disappeared.

  Julian reattached it to his belt before filling it up with food, jugs of water, a few potions, bandages, and other survival essentials.

  “I don’t expect us to be gone long, but now that weight isn’t an issue, I figure we’d rather be safe than sorry. I plan to loop around the outpost, so hopefully we’ll be back with the first group of survivors by nightfall.” Julian announced.

  “Good luck, we’ll make sure the rest of these buildings are clear and start taking inventory of what’s still useful. See you tonight.” Harvey said, patting Julian’s shoulder as they walked out of the store. Hannah hugged them both goodbye before jogging to catch up. When they’d disappeared into the forest out of the main gate, Harvey turned to Gabe.

  “Let’s get to work!” Harvey cheered. Gabe swore as he turned and walked away.