Chapter 69

Adrian stood frozen in the room’s corner, looking at his family. They were all alive, even the pets.

But he couldn’t pull his eyes away from Emily. She was asleep, cuddling both of the boys and as beautiful as he remembered. He was so lucky.

Level 19 Druid

Internally, he raised his eyebrows at that. For her levels to have advanced that far, she must have done a lot of fighting.

Now that he was in the room with her his urgency faded. He was happy to look at her and the kids and just soak in the feeling of being home.

Summer, his tiny yellow chihuahua stirred.

Mutated Earth Dog

This chihuahua has mutated to have increased intelligence, growth and a limited form of telepathy.

Adrian smiled at those skills. She had always been talkative and clearly wanted to be bigger than she was. Curiously, he studied Nala, their other dog, and as different from Summer as could be. When they had got Summer, within minutes, she had been chasing the kids around the house while Nala had spent the first four weeks under the couch hiding.

Mutated Earth Dog

This chihuahua has mutated to have enhanced stealth and movement speed.

Not the most useful skills for a guard dog in an apocalypse but he understood exactly why she had developed in that direction. They suited her personality. Possibly, all animals evolved along the lines of their existing tendencies.

Adrian smiled.

The kids were considered children, so there was nothing to learn from examining them. They had the standard child interface in place. They looked healthy and uninjured. He checked the interface. It was a little after midnight. He had woken no one. He could leave and come back in the morning.

Instead, he took a step closer. “Emily,” he whispered, his command of sound taking the noise straight to her ear.

She kept sleeping, out to the world.

Another step. He was right next to the bed.

“Emily.”

She stirred. His heart jumped, and he felt like a teenager again, or like when she had agreed to go on that first date.

“Emily.”

She startled, pushed away from the boys, rolled over Summer, her knees just clearing the dog. “Emily.”

“Adrian?” He suppressed the noise. But her eyes were open. “Am I dreaming?”

“No.”

She was out of bed in a flash, leaping at him. He caught her, and she tried to cuddle her face into his shoulder but his armour got in the way. With a flick of his Mind, his armour vanished, replaced by casual clothes. “It’s a dream.” She sounded devastating. A finger touching where the armour had been.

“It’s not. I’m back. I love you.”

“Armour doesn’t do that.”

He hugged her and was surprised to discover that she was wearing a hard leather tunic under her night clothes. “I’m real,” he promised.

“But…”

Her eyes focused on him, and she was using identification, verifying his place in her reality. “What the? How are you?”

He buried his nose into her hair. “I’ve missed you.”

She was clinging to him. Her hands run over him. Touching and confirming. “You’re younger.”

“I’ve thought of you every day.”

She kissed him and eventually pulled back breathless. “It’s you.” She ran her hand over his face once more, trying to absorb him. “This better not be another dream.”

“It’s not.”

Her eyes went unfocused. “It’s 1 a.m.?” she whispered.

“I just got to Melbourne and I couldn’t stay away. I was going to wait till morning but…”

“How did you get in?”

“Magic.”

She traced the line of his jaw. He had shaved in the morning for this moment. “You’re young…”

“It was part of the transition.”

Her hands continued running all over him. Then she hugged him tight. “I missed you so much, bubs. It was so hard.” Tears ran down her cheeks. She looked at the kids and sleeping dogs.

Summer stirred in her sleep but did not wake. Useless guard dogs, he thought to himself. There was an intruder, and they had not woken.

“Oh.” She nodded towards the door, and then when he did not immediately move she linked arms and dragged him. “There’s a common room downstairs. We can talk.”

He could sense it. It was occupied and had a pot of boiling water. “Four people are there currently getting drinks.”

“What? How?”

“I have the ability to sense everything within thirty metres of me.”

“And the rooms occupied?”

Adrian nodded.

Emily’s eyes went unfocused, and then he could see when she figured something out. “Shift change.” She grinned and her face transformed. “Love you.” Then she clung to him contentedly. “Hold me.”

Adrian hugged her tightly. “Love you, too.” His voice caught. It had happened. He was back with her. Everything felt right. Her armour pinched him as she pressed in tighter, but he would not complain. It was prudent and proper that she slept with armour, especially out here, exposed in the bush.

“Do you get attacked often?”

“Once or twice a week. We think the smell of the farm animals attracts them.”

“Have you lost many people?” he asked scared.

“Not many. Gena died about three weeks ago, but that was because she was scouting too far.”

“I’m sorry.”

“She was the closest to me. We had fought together occasionally. But I barely knew her.” She went on tiptoes and rubbed her nose against him. A small shudder of happiness went through her. “I was so worried about you.” They kissed again.

“The people below have left.”

Emily nodded. “Give second shift a few minutes to get to bed, and then we can have tea and talk.” Her hands entwined with his and they both had so much to say, but he couldn’t find words. She was still pressed tightly and desperately against him. He was happy to stand there with her, content knowing that he had made it after all this time.

“How’s Melbourne?” he asked finally.

“Getting better. The queen has done a good job.”

“Queen?”

“Maybe a queen. Most people think she’s just a figurehead installed by the warlords. Not everything is perfect. There’s still a scattering of class four and above monsters all over the place that her knights haven’t got around to killing. The inner city is mostly monster-infested and everything within twenty kilometres of Frankston is gone because of a giant semi-aquatic slug.”

It did not sound as bad as he had expected. “What percentage survived?”

She shivered. “Maybe sixty.”

It was worse than some places but better than he had feared. That meant three million people were alive. “Food?”

“Tight,” Emily admitted. “Unless you’re on the farm and even we ration things. Eighty percent of what we produce we send to the city, mainly for gear.” He tapped the form-fitted armour she was wearing.

“Yep, like that.”

Leather Breast Plate of Protection

Expert rated handcrafted level armour. Provides significant resistance to penetration and slashing damage.

Active ability: Creates a shield that can absorb a hundred and fifty damage.

The shield would not do much against him but against a normal human that was two full axe blows.

They held each other, rocking back and forth like they were dancing.

“Time,” Emily declared and then she dragged him out of the room, and the instant he stepped into the hallway he realised how much the place had changed. He had been aware of it, of course, through his sensory domain, but the full alterations had not consciously registered. The usual broad corridor had internal barriers installed with makeshift sleeping quarters fashioned along the hall. Pretty much everywhere had three levels of bunk beds built with post-Alpha wood.

She saw his look.

“Accommodation. Pop’s house was the biggest, so people consolidated here.”

“Strength in numbers,” he agreed as they went down the stairs. Down here it was the same as upstairs, with all the rooms converted into sleeping areas with every other spare bit of space used to store food.

She led him right to the old laundry and the new common room. With normal vision, he could see the glow of light around the edges. She opened it up and pulled him in, shutting the door hurriedly behind her. It had a makeshift pot belly stove installed along with glowing rocks in the light fixtures.

“Glow stones.”

“Yeah. This room always has light.”

Adrian studied it. With the stove, the space was cramped even though all the internal fittings had been removed. A small couch had been placed where the washing machine and dryer used to be, and Emily pushed him down onto it.

“Tea or coffee? We only have instant, of course.”

“No.” He produced a takeaway cup from his bag of holding, and the smell of fresh coffee filled the room.

The smile that lit Emily’s face was incredible. “For me? I knew there was a reason I married you.”

She sat on his lap.

“You have your own bag of holding,” She observed finally.

“Yeah. It’s great. Have you seen them before?”

“Of course, we are up to about fifty communal ones. But they’re for storing perishables or to be carried on hunting trips.”

“Oh, my god!” Emily exclaimed, lowering the cup and staring in amazement at it. “Buffs. Where? How?”

“I got an innkeeper to make me it. He burned some of his once-a-day cool downs to improve it.”

Her eyes went unfocused. “Master-level coffee,” she said with a laugh. “Extraordinary. You’re amazing.” They kissed, the taste of coffee on her breath.

Emily pulled back slightly. “Thank you.” They stared into each other’s eyes. She broke eye contact, blushing. “I feel like I’m a teenager again.”

“Same.” He stroked her leg because it was unarmoured. It felt weird hugging someone wearing armour, though given the world, he guessed it was something he would need to get used to. “How are the kids?”

“Natalie has been a godsend. Toby has tried to be good, and Jack forgets everything has changed at least three times a day. The child class has been incredible,” she concluded before laughing. “Jack has triggered the automatic teleport function fifteen times. Toby just four times but then he’s always been more cautious.”

“Well, the older boy is going to explore more.”

“Of course, that’s what it is,” she said with a chuckle.

“Nan and Pops?”

“Good.”

“Was it hard?” Adrian asked.

A sharp nod. “But it got easier when you sent the rings through. The octopod.” Adrian’s blood froze at memories of his first encounter, even slaughtering thousands of them since did not make him feel better. “It had been troubling us and we hired some hunters from town to help when your ring arrived. That made us change plans. Natalie went with the hunters. Between us and them, there was nothing it could do. We beat it to a pulp and when it was almost dead, Natalie bonded with it. With it on our side instead of against us. Things have improved.”

She took another sip of the coffee. “This is so good. And what about you?”

“It’s a long story.”

“World Saver, hey?”

‎ “You can see that?”

Emily laughed. “As part of the immediate family, I got notified when you were awarded it.”

“Of course.”

“How did you get that? The trader wouldn’t tell.”

“By saving the world.”

Emily laughed and gave him a kiss. “Seriously, how?”

“I disabled a portal that was the size of an oval to stop something even larger coming through.”

Emily looked at him speculatively. “You’re not joking.” She hesitated. “You literally saved the world?”

“I was just the tip of the spear that did.”

“You literally saved the world!”

Adrian blushed, feeling embarrassed.

“Don’t worry, to me you will always be the idiot who took three months to work up the courage to ask my dad if you could marry me.”

“I… he’s scary,” Adrian concluded. “And I knew you wanted me to ask him first… so.”

She laughed.

They chattered just like they had always done, but now they each had almost three months of adventures to share.

The door swung open. Emily jumped a bit in surprise. Adrian did not even flinch. He had felt the man’s approach for some time.

An old man with a sword strapped to waist his walked in. He startled when he saw them, a hand dropping to his weapon.

“Joe.”

“Emily,” he said, glaring daggers at Adrian.

“This is Adrian. He just got back.”

The suspicious look on the older man’s face vanished. His hand dropped from his sword. “Son, welcome back. Your missus missed you.”

“Did she just?”

“Oh yeah, she wouldn’t shut up.”

Emily squirmed on his lap. Joe touched the pot and frowned and went to put it back on the potbelly stove.

“Just pour water into your mug,” Adrian suggested. Joe looked at him. “I can heat it.”

Joe did as instructed. “Boiling now,” Adrian warned, and two seconds later steam billowed out.

“Nice trick.”

Adrian smiled while Joe grabbed two spoonfuls of sugar and a tea bag. “I’ll let you love birds have your privacy.”

“Neighbour,” she told him. “And a gossip. Let’s go back to bed. Everyone will know by morning now.”

Adrian nodded. “You can ditch your armour when you get there.”

She looked hesitant. “I like to be prepared, in case”

“No need.” He told her happily. “I have told you some of my skills. We’re safe.”

“Hey, stop talking so loud you’ll wake people.”

“Sound bubble, remember? No one can hear,” he explained.

“What I’ve been whispering for no reason?” She mock elbowed him. “And are we really safe? Are you really that strong?”

“Yes, I’m officially equivalent to a level sixty but practically I’m far stronger. I’m strong enough to fight most class threes to a standstill.”

“Arrogance is not an attractive trait.”

“I…”

She giggled.

“Teasing.”

Carefully he opened the door, suppressing the creeks from any hinges. The kids were still sleeping, but Summer and Nala both woke up at the air flow. He extended the sound bubble to encase both of them. “Hey, girls.”

Nala started wagging her tail furiously while shrinking away slightly. Summer leapt forward to the end of the bed, her entire body wiggling. “Shh,” he ordered. The wiggling became more extreme and then she leapt at him, expanding as she did so. Suddenly, instead of a chihuahua, only marginally bigger than one of his shoes, jumping at him, she was the size of a large and fat labrador.

Buff of Strength.

Without thinking, he caught the dog and did not rock back. Then her tongue was all over him. Neck, ears, she even nipped his nose in her excitement.

“Shrink,” he heard Emily order from beside him, and then Summer was small again but just as interested as previously in getting a million licks in. He held her with her head close to his chest to limit her movements and tilted his own away. She squirmed violently, getting regular licks in on his ear and cheek. He looked at Emily, but she was pulling off her armour, facing away from him.

Nala was wagging her tail with one paw in the air asking for a pat but in her usual manner afraid to get too close. With a smile, he leant down to get his face to bed level. She immediately shot over to greet him. Very out of character, she was barking excitedly. She jumped on his head, then attacked his ears. Adrian knelt instead of bent, put Summer down and then patted them both vigorously.

He was home. Home!

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