“No, you can’t come with me. You have to stay here and watch over Micah.” Castor told Blue for the umpteenth time. Insisting, regardless of how much the whining, and downtrodden ears tugged at his heartstrings.

Castor stood at the edge of their dead-end tunnel as he equipped the armor and weapon he looted from the Kobolds, preparing to venture out of the sewers and into the open streets. The leather armor constricted his movements and pinched at the gut, but it did come with a leather loop that allowed him to sheathe the club at his side.

Micah still slept in the furthest corner with an occasional groan escaping his lips. Castor’s eyes fell towards the teenager’s cracked and burnt skin, reminding him why he was taking such a risk.

“Listen, Blue,” Castor knelt to the dog’s eye level. “I need you to stay and be a good boy. Stay right here.” He punctuated with a point. Blue repeatedly tapped his paws as Castor turned to leave.

Castor hugged Blue tight. Castor prayed he would be safe when he was essentially alone. Maybe he was imagining it, but Castor could feel a familial warmth flow between them. It was a little hard to believe how hard Blue has grown. Castor felt like it was only yesterday he was berating him for destroying his wooden bed frame.

Castor gave Blue one last look, before he headed out.

It took a couple of turns before Castor found the corridor with the exit, the metal ladder and flashing light giving away its position down the hall. He climbed slowly, trying not to rattle the ladder and make any unnecessary noise. Castor didn't want to attract the attention of anything that might be out there.

He slowly peeked his head out of the hole as he scanned the surroundings for threats, but found nothing lurking nearby.

Castor was safe, for now.

An expansive gloom draped over the sky. Dark clouds made the surroundings darker; the only light was the intermittent lightning that flashed soundlessly above.

The stark twilight was pervasive in the empty and silent district; rubble littered every foot of the streets as Castor emerged onto the surface. Castor felt like a rabbit; he paused and surveyed every building and pile of rubble for movement—for any sign of a predator. Only when he felt relatively safe did he move forward.

Castor’s goal was the mini-mart; it was almost guaranteed to have the supplies the trio needed to survive, including ointment and bandages for Micah. Of course, there could’ve been another store or building nearby, but Castor didn’t want to risk wasting time on stores that might not have everything.

Castor’s head was on a swivel as he inched his way towards the store, yet the city was eerily still. The buildings were in complete disrepair, some with cars shoved through them. Almost every window was shattered while cracks sprawled across the concrete.

The streetlights were so rusted Castor could see their misshapen edges even in the dark. Occasionally, glimmers of lightning would streak across the sky, illuminating entire streets for a brief instance.

Each street Castor passed looked as if a hurricane ripped through them.

Castor didn’t let himself be distracted by extraneous thoughts, focusing on his surroundings as he made his way to the store.

It was a good three blocks away—which seems a lot farther when they were running away for their lives—and when he got to the front of the store, he had a single thought on his mind as he looked around.

Where are all the dead bodies?

Castor was sure he saw a lot of people hit the ground when that monster was tearing into them. Now there weren’t even streaks of blood on the concrete as he passed by the entrance. It made the hairs on the back of his neck raise and his scalp tingle.

Skill Gained!

Intuition (Uncommon)

Attain immediate insight

without direct cognition.

Score: ???

“Well, that’s not ominous,” Castor whispered sarcastically.

Although gaining the skill might have proven his feelings to be accurate, it was nice to have. Unlike the mysterious [Alter], its effect was direct and tangible, if barely. Immediately, Castor could see several wispy things in the air—similar to fumes—but more importantly, something above tugged at his attention.

The clouds looming in the background were imperceptible, except for the few moments the soundless lightning flashed in the sky. It was illogical, but for some reason, Castor could tell it was going to rain.

Castor shoved the intrusive thought out of his mind and focused on what he originally came out here for, stepping through the broken glass of the sliding door.

He wrinkled his nose from the smell right as he walked through the entrance; the place reeked of rot. Castor was surprised he didn’t see droves of flies swarming through the store.

“What the hell?” Castor half-expected the food to be looted already, beaten to the punch by people who were smarter or faster.

Instead, what greeted him were aisles upon aisles of crumbled packaging and rotten food.

Castor’s already low expectations crumbled to despair. He looked through each lane, and everything from cans to plastic containers had spoiled food, despite the packaging itself being pristine.

Magic. Castor gritted his teeth. That was the only thing that made sense to him. Food like this doesn’t go rancid like this in a matter of hours. It was unnatural.

As if to punctuate his failure and prove his earlier feeling right, a heavy downpour suddenly pattered the ground outside. Lightning flashed more frequently, casting light into the mini-mart.

Castor refused to give up, moving on from the food to search for the other supplies. The burn ointment was readily available, surviving whatever contamination infected this place, but the bandages weren’t so lucky, in the midst of crumbling to dust when he found them. He sighed—another failure—and moved on.

Surprisingly, the cases of water were safe and untouched. Castor down a quarter of a case, greedily drinking as much as he could before he grabbed a backpack nearby to carry everything he found.

Finally, he was ready to return and watch over Micah.

Castor was about to step out into the rain, but suddenly paused, his gut screaming at him to stop. Or better yet, to not touch the water. Castor looked closer, trying to glean what his [Intuition] was trying to tell him.

In the flashes of light provided by the silent lightning, he could see that the rain was heavily polluted. The raindrops were tinted a deep gray, almost black, as they fell from the sky. He could have mistaken the water for muddy, with the way some pools looked on the ground.

Then as suddenly as the rain came, it ceased. The gray pools of water evaporated despite the sudden chill that permeated the air. Something about the scene made Castor shiver, glad that his newly gained skill was already paying dividends. Who knows what would’ve happened if he would’ve walked into the rain.

Struck with an idea, Castor walked back into the store and found several plastic ponchos, umbrellas, and wet boots still usable and stuffed them into plastic bags, tying them to his backpack to keep his hands free.

Then, Caster stepped out into the silent street. He watched the lighting streak overhead in the storm clouds, weary of any more rain that may come. Now he was ready to head back to their temporary base of operations.

A low groan made Castor jump, flinching at the sudden noise. He turned to see a man limping towards him on a leg bent the wrong way. Castor almost called out to the guy to offer his help, but thought otherwise. Something about him was off.

Looking closer, Castor saw the man’s skin was gray—the same tint as that polluted water—and his eyes seemed to roll to the back of his head, leaving just the white sclera showing.

Abruptly, the man tripped and fell—something Castor might’ve previously chuckled at, except it exposed deep bloody cuts on his back, cuts that went all the way to his bone. A screen appeared in front of Castor, designating the man as a monster.

Ghoul

Level 1

Just when it couldn’t get any worse, zombies get thrown into the mix. Castor’s heart slammed in his chest at the sight of the monster until he took a deep breath. It’s okay. There’s only one, and it’s even weaker than the Kobolds.

Castor took off the backpack, and unsheathed his club with shaky hands. Even if this monster looked like a human, it was a perfect opportunity to get rid of it while he had the chance. Castor didn’t want to give the Ghoul a chance to run off and hurt somebody else.

So, when the Ghoul got back to its wobbling feet, Castor sprinted towards the monster and swung his club with all his might.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep his eyes open, shutting out the image of killing something so close to a human. Castor felt a sickening squelch and a thud before he had the heart to open his eyes again.

The Ghoul laid on its back, the side of its head completely caved in from Castor’s strike.

Castor gagged, the smell of its rotten brain too much for him to handle. He tried to vomit, yet his stomach was already empty, so he could only cough and repeatedly dry-heave.

A high-pitch scream assaulted Castor’s ears, interrupting his attempt at vomiting. The Ghoul was somehow still alive, or whatever it passed for life, and was currently screaming the rest of its head off. Castor swung his club one last time and scattered the rest of its skull across the ground.

Silence once more reigned in the dusty district.

Skill Gained!

Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Basic)

Skillfully wield blunt weapons

Score: POW

Suddenly, groans and grunts echoed from every direction as Ghouls poured out of buildings and alleys. The intermittent light of the storm above flashed upon the angry mob, showing Castor the peril he faced.

Each of the Ghouls looked different from the other, yet every undead was gray and sported injuries that would’ve been fatal on any other creature. They all crawled, limped, and shuffled closer to him; every second Castor hesitated, the more Ghouls boxed in him in the middle of the intersection.

Castor didn’t wait around and find out if they wanted to hug it out, or get revenge for the Ghoul whose brains he painted on the pavement.

He turned to escape through the store and out the emergency exit, but was stopped by four ghouls who snuck behind him. Castor flinched back at their grasping black claws, almost jumping from the sudden fright. The Ghouls enclosed him tighter with every second.

Something needed to give if Castor was going to escape—he unhesitatingly drew the white weapon stained with blood, and swung at the Ghouls blocking his way into the store.

He whirled the bat at the Ghouls, ending each one in a nauseating wallop. Bodies fell in seconds. By the end, only one had enough head mass left to screech, which Castor ended with another hurried swing.

Blunt Weapon Proficiency Expanded!

Unranked 1

Dark blood splattered on Castor’s hands and face, but he couldn’t even notice it. The scream of the last Ghoul seemed to put the rest of the zombies into a frenzy, as the mob picked up speed. Ghouls climbed over each other and threw themselves in his direction, attempting to drag him into their ranks.

Intuition Expanded!

Unranked 1

A shiver ran across Castor’s shoulder; he could just imagine what would happen if they managed to get a hold of him. The undead blocked both directions of the street. That limited his options even further.

So, Castor ran through the mini-mart, escaping through the emergency exit. The Ghouls tried to follow, but were hampered by the other Ghouls' attempt at trying to get Castor first. They congregated at the front of the store, a few Ghouls trickling in despite the crowd.

Castor left the mob to themselves. The emergency exit opened into a narrow alley that ran into the next street—

—A pale clawed hand grasped at his throat. Pure instinct turned Castor’s stride into a slide. He sat there on his knees for a moment, patting his neck repeatedly. Any hesitation would’ve gotten Castor’s throat torn out.

Intuition Expanded!

Unranked 2

The Ghoul turned and struck out once more, only for Castor to duck under its claws and bashed its knee in with a sickening crunch. What was once a lunge, turned into limp after Castor pulverized the monster’s knee.

He cringed at the sound of bone audibly grinding together, yet the zombie continued to try to murder him despite the debilitating injury.

From a certain angle, Castor could see traces of what was once women from the patches of long hair, and ruined dress. For the first time, Castor could see the thing breathe a huff of air and opened its mouth—

—His white club buried itself into the Ghoul’s cheek. Half a jaw flew a few feet into the alley. It felt like how Castor thought a home run would feel like, just with dead people. It was especially telling with the flesh being black instead of red.

Nothing like a human.

More Ghouls jumped at Castor’s heels, appearing at every corner. One almost got him.

The Ghoul fell from above and clipped his right shoulder; it still twinged in pain every time his backpack swung across his back. Castor didn’t even look back as he ran without pause across several streets. He lashed out at anything that got too close.

Blunt Weapon Proficiency Expanded!

Unranked 2

The threats in this place seemed to grow more numerous the more time Castor was forced to spend here. Each one was terrifying in its own right, but when added together, it made this whole place a freaking hellhole.

The Kobold armor was hot and heavy as Castor ran as fast as his aching legs could carry him. The straps of his backpack dug into his shoulders, but he didn’t stop until he saw the hole in the street. The once-manhole was a beacon of hope, if not greatly diminished by being destroyed. The rubble stood out a bit more than anywhere else, after personally watching it be destroyed.

I need to get out of here as soon as possible. Castor grimaced; he still didn't feel safe. He swore he could feel something staring holes through him, but couldn’t find anything when he looked around the destroyed block. Castor suppressed the shivers that ran across his shoulders and pushed on.

The ladder into the sewers was rusted and cut into his hands on his way down; groans and screams that made Castor’s skin crawl echoed in the distance and around the streets above. The rain and silence before seemed almost peaceful compared to the lingering moans and screeches of violence.