Whatever the tiger did to fix me was only partial. I could move, and I wasn’t bleeding, but I was more sore than a squid in boot. I pulled myself to my feet and looked around. I spotted the two other dead bodies of the pigs, and one still had a core left in it.

I didn’t hesitate to walk over to the corpse with the core still in it and drive my sword into the promised source of mana. As always, the power surged into the sword, some of it was trapped and stored there, then it passed into my own body. The mana circled around my channels, soothing the aches and pains away, then entered my core and leaving me refreshed and feeling like I’d had a full night’s sleep.

“Better than coffee in the morning,” I muttered to no one in particular.

Next was the question of what to do with the pigs. I didn’t have a way to transport the meat, so I would have to cut it up. I sliced off large chunks from the back and belly, leaving me with red-raw hunks of rough-cut meat. It didn’t matter. I was already dreaming about pork for dinner and bacon for breakfast the next few mornings. And if my group could track down another herd of pigs, I had no doubt we’d be able to safely get more meat. With the ranged weapons and Carter’s spear, we could pin down at least one pig and not have to worry about wasting the meat. And with the five of us, the dozen pigs charging wouldn’t be likely. At least, I hoped not. Maybe we could find some hunting dogs that weren’t rabid, and they could hold the pig in place while we killed it.

It was a ridiculous thought, and I chuckled to myself. It looked like most animals had evolved into something more dangerous at the very least, and rabid at the worst. Every creature was bigger and stronger, myself included. Hell, I was stronger and faster than olympians, and I knew I was pushing at the boundaries of what was possible for humans under normal circumstances. But mana was pushing me beyond. What would be the result, if I ranked up? How far down does the rabbit hole go? I was a peak human at Citrine rank, so what would I be past that. Would I still be human?

I looked around for a way to transport the meat, not wanting to soil my clothes more. At the thought, I looked down at myself. I swore quietly. Both pant legs had been completely torn free up to my mid-thighs. On a college girl with the right legs, it might look “cute” or “sexy”. I wasn’t in college. Or a girl. Or have the right legs. Maybe I was doomed to an eternal existence of torn clothes. Eventually, I would just have to walk around naked. Not too bad, if everyone in this new world was going to be pushed to be in the best shapes of their lives…

I shook my head, clearing the irrelevant thoughts. Clothes didn’t matter. Food mattered, as my furry companion could attest to. She was ripping into the carcass and occasionally letting out purring sounds that seemed to vibrate the air, even from five feet away. So, I sat down, my back against the passenger door of the nearest car. The pigs had rushed by the vehicle, leaving dents from impacts in the shuffle, as well as long scrapes in the body where tusks had scraped against the metal.

I steadied my breathing and closed my eyes, trying to achieve the same level of calm I’d achieved a day ago when I was condensing my core. The process was easier this time, as I understood the order of energy.

I was sweating and panting when something soft, wet, and large nudged my face. I opened my eyes, and my concentration cracked, along with my voice as I let out a yell. The tiger’s head was massive, and less than a foot from my own, looking at me. Shit, had I just sat down on the ground and closed my eyes with a dangerous predator around? I really was losing my touch. I looked around, and the meat was completely devoured on the first corpse, along with most of the body of the second. It looked like she was picky in what she ate from the second body. I guess, if there’s an abundance of food, you can afford to be more picky. That’s why so much food goes bad every year. Or went bad. I guessed there would be even more food going bad this year than most years. Even so, we would also probably have people starving to death.

I looked at my own share of meat and stood to my feet, slinging the meat over my shoulders so I could carry them more easily. The tiger didn’t object to my loud walking and breathing as we made our way back to the Comfort Inn.

We made it safely to the hotel, though the mana-corrupted animals seemed drawn to the strong smell of the blood from our recent kills. In all, I’d collected about a dozen cores to share with the other members of our group.

The civilians were sitting in a circle around Carter. Most of them had their eyes closed, though I did catch a few open their eyes at the sound of our shuffling feet. Well, my shuffling feet. The tiger didn’t make any noise at all. The toddlers squinted, in the way they think it means their eyes are closed, but they can still see. I chuckled as they looked around as well. The mothers were distracted, trying to get the little ones to sit still and not squirm. Well, I had a solution for that as well.

“Meat, anyone?” I asked. “We just have to cook it.”

“Oh, thank God,” Chavez said immediately. He wasn’t on lookout at the moment, and immediately sat up from where he was lying on the bare carpet, a bed pillow under his head. “What kind of meat is it?”

“Pig? Boar?” I said, shrugging.

“There’s a difference,” he snorted, “but it’s probably a pig. We used to have lots of problems with wild pigs. Not sure if that will change, what with even the bugs being big enough to take down one of the damn things.”

“Well, they’re much bigger now too, so I don’t think you’ll have much to worry about. They must have weighed close to two hundred pounds.”

“Then where’s the rest of it?” Chavez looked at the two – and I would point out large – hunks of meat disparagingly.

“I wasn’t going to argue with the tiger that ate it.” I pointed at the newest member of our merry band.

“Yeah, no shit,” Chavez laughed. “Well, lemme see what they have in the way of cooking in here.”

“No electricity, remember?” I said.

“Dumbass, it’s probably a gas stove. Just gotta skin the meat and get the stove lit, and I can probably make it work. Won’t be able to wash dishes, but that was always my least favorite part anyways.”

“You a chef in a past life?”

“Nah, man,” he laughed. “My ma taught me to cook. Said I was the only natural in the family.”

“And you can cook for this many?”

“This ain’t nothin’”, he laughed. I come from a family with a dozen kids, and you should see the parties when we do family reunions. Hundred plus people there, easy. This is nothin’, if the meat will keep.”

“Let’s make it work, then.”

Chavez took the bloody meat from me and moved off, muttering something about draining the blood. I hoped it didn’t take too long. Several of the women without children followed him.

“Everything go okay out there?” Andy asked me. He kept his eyes trained outside, and Bragg was still at his position.

“I was almost KIA, but she saved me.” I gestured at the tiger.

“Hmph,” he grunted. “Wonder what’s in it for her?”

“No idea. I don’t think she needs us.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Tigers aren’t usually pack hunters, so why is she part of our pack now. And who does she think the alpha is?”

“Well, every cat thinks they’re the alpha,” I chuckled. “In this case though, I think she was teaching me how to hunt. We took turns on the kills.”

“Should we be calling you Mowgli now?” Carter had come over from her group, which had lost all semblance of organization at the mention of food. Every child under the age of seven was now convinced that he or she would starve, if they didn’t have food in the next thirty seconds.

I missed my daughter.

“That’s Lieutenant Mowgli to you, Agent Carter.” There was a long silence where no one said anything.

“She’s okay, Forrest,” Andy said. “They both are.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I just can’t wait to see them, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“After food, we should head out again, make it another mile before sunset.”

“Do you know how long it takes to cook raw, non-butchered meat for a group this big?” Andy asked.

“No…?”

“My guess is we won’t be making any more progress today,” Carter answered.

It did take the rest of the day to prep the food. Apparently, some idiot hadn’t cut the meat from the pig correctly from the pig. It did taste damn good after it was cooked, and even the tiger was salivating from the delightful scents.

“We head out at first light,” I said, grudgingly. “We’ve spent too long in one place and too close to Regis.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the adults, overriding the grumbling children.