Roy shone his flashlight through the window, people had evidently been here. The center of the room was clear and several open cans littered the ground alongside a large garbage bag. As Roy’s eyes scanned the room he imagined he could hear the splash of water, and then a finger tapped the small of his back.

“Yes, what is it?” Roy responded, eyes still affixed to the scene in the store. Taps on the back were frequent in the classroom; someone always had some wisecrack to share. Roy pushed aside his instinctual response and turned around, who would tap him on the back out here in the middle of the apocalypse.

He froze as he regarded the little green man. It was two heads shorter than Roy, but the little man’s ears and nose were easily thrice the size of his.

“Ayy, I Gib-Hog of Six Claw Clan, good to meet human here, eh,” Gib-Hog, raised one arms and extended it towards Roy. The arms were lanky and the furs he wore seemed to dangle from the limb.

Awkwardly Roy grasped the outstretched hand and shook it. He could feel the claws on the others hand, they were at least an inch long and ended with sharp points, resembling fangs. To Roy’s senses, honed by years of gaming, the figure in front of his eyes was a goblin; he had motley green skin, a short stature, pointy ears, and a nose like Pinocchio. Most startling of all were the eyes, large pools of white dominated by a saucer shaped iris colored a deep shade of crimson.

“Yeah, umm, I’m Roy, nice to meet you... Gib,” Roy responded as he retracted his hand and shuffled away from the convenience store, he was growing uncomfortable under the scrutiny of those two red disks.

“No, no, not Gib, is Hog. Gib is big name, was thirty-one Gibs,” Hog shook his obtusely large head and paddled after Roy. The water almost went up to the goblins hips, but Hog was surprisingly agile as he maneuvered along.

“I see,” Roy managed to choke out, was the goblin from the world the monsters came from? If so why could he speak English? Did the goblin also see the blue screens, and would he have more information on them? Roy had a million questions but he was awestruck, he was making first contact with a sentient from another world, for Roy at least. Lyn would have loved to be in this situation.

As far as Roy was aware there was no information available on xenosociology, he was on fresh ground and all by himself. Or was he, the goblin had referred to Roy as human, did that mean there were humans in that other world? Hog didn’t seem to be mad or hostile, perhaps they were on friendly terms and he could find some help. Hog had said he was part of a clan.

Then he looked back at the note, he was planning to head to the grocery store, which was only around a hundred meters further west. The goblins could wait, he was going to meet up with Lestrat’s group and seek shelter with the other survivors.

“Roy, you from this place, eh” the goblin seemed to ask as it gestured at the buildings and the ground. Roy turned his attention away from his thoughts.

“Yeah...” he needed to get a hold of himself, he couldn’t keep stumbling around like this, he just needed to answer a few simple questions before asking his own. He could leave establishing ties with the goblins to someone more qualified, this was certainly above his pay grade.

“Good, good, come with Hob, we go see chief,” the goblin quickly replied and began to head south, leaving a surprised Roy behind. He wasn’t going to meet some goblin chieftain. He was going to the grocery store!

“Wait,” Roy shouted as he turned towards his destination, “I can’t just go with you; I need to go to the building over there.”

Roy pointed towards the grocer’s and the Goblin’s eyes followed his hand before resting on the dim outline of the building, ”Better, chief want to go to big hut too, but human shoot with magic stick.”

“You mean guns?”

“Guns, good word, short,” the goblin murmured to no one in particular, “They shoot tiny fast guys with guns, chief no way talk to human in big hut. Big thing to talk, very big.”

Roy took a second to digest the broken English the goblin had spouted. Their chief wanted to talk about something big, something important, “Big thing?”

“Yes big, big,” the goblin nodded his head in enthusiasm.

“What does the chief want to talk about?” Roy was curious now, what was important in the goblins eyes? It could be about the system, or any of the other unknowns which had cropped up in the last few days. Just the fog and severe flooding alone were unheard of where he lived.

“Hob not know, chief know, chief go to 'academy', chief know many thing Hob not know,” it didn’t seem like he would be learn more by talking to Hog. The goblin seemed suicidality honest, not a trait he had been expecting based on the games in often played. It was folly to take too much from prior knowledge.

“How far is it to the chief?” if they were close by he could consider visiting, Roy expected that the survivors in the grocery store would stay there for some time, from the note he gathered that their numbers were great and the store did have a considerable stockpile of food, both fresh and preserved. He could go, gather some information and then return in the morning, he would be helping out the survivors too.

“Not far, walk is more short than time it take Hog to eat night meal,” the goblin smiled and revealed his two rows of sharp teeth. Together with his rough fur wraps and leather cap, the Goblin had quite the wild look about him.

“I guess I’ll visit the chief then,” but what if this whole set up was a trap, goblins were cunning monsters in video games. But to trap him, there would be nothing gained from it...

He could be made a slave, eaten, any number of horrible things he had only seen in games and TV before this point. Such thoughts, crossed his mind as he watched the goblin move further away, a short bow hung on a strap across his back. Roy had examined monsters and items, but he had never thought to examine a any of his class mates, could he examine the goblin? Staring at the departing back he concentrated.

Goblin

LV 11 HP 100 / 100

The goblin’s HP was low, but he we more than double his level. That was good news though; it meant the single goblin could wipe the floor with Roy, Hog didn’t need to pull him into a trap. Somewhat assured by his own logic Roy followed along, he needed that information even if there was a smidgen of risk involved.

He had many questions for this chief of the goblins, which seemed to have attended some sort of school based on what Hog had said. There were question his guide could answer though.

“Hey Hog, do you know about the system, you know, the blue screens?” he knew his classmates could see the screens, but could the inhabitant of the other world see them.

Hog made a sound as if he was glugging down water, “You joke good, I see screen so much, I see screen in sleep.”

Roy was slightly put off by the laughing sound. The goblins could see the screens, it would be safe to say that everyone could, or at least those who could bring the various screen up through thought. Could a honey bee bring up the status screen, what about a dog? Roy brought his thoughts back to the present, Hog seemed to imply that the screens were a common occurrence. It would mean that the goblins had access to the system for much longer than three days, or goblins had a life span measured in days, which seemed unlikely. That could mean the system was only new to the people of Earth; would it be alright to disclose this fact?

“Hey Hog, where are you from?” he was jumping from topic to topic but there was nothing he could do about it, he needed answers.

“You from here, I not say where I from, that not good,” Hog murmured before continuing, ”I from trees around New Atlarium, that a human city.”

“I eat morning meal, then whosh, I over there,” Hog pointed towards the north, “and mushrooms everywhere... Now I here, I don’t know here.”

Hog didn’t seem to know that this was Earth, and New Atlarium was brought up again. Several things seemed to repeat themselves, New Atlarium and mushrooms. The dagger, the pitchfork, the fryer, and now Hog.

“We’re in a town called Anamosa, which is in the United States, that’s a country. I don’t think we’re from the same world,” he felt the urge to share some information regarding where they were; the goblin seemed to be just as confused as he.

“Not same world,” Hog quieted for a moment, “new place look big strange for reason eh.”

They continued walking southward, past First Street, which the old couples house had been located, until they reached Second Street. Turning west, they continued on.

“It good, I have new clan here, I have new life here like human settler,” it ended by making the glugging sound again.

They walked for a bit further before Roy made out a foggy form that stretched across the street, sealing the passage forward. Soon he could make out the junk and abandoned cars that formed the barricade, knit together by haphazard patches of wood and concrete blocks. A small torch was lit atop what appeared to be a gate, though it was little better than a couple of wood boards tied together and shoved in front of a gap in the vehicular mish mash.

“Hog here, I come back from looking, I have human friend too,” Hog shouted in his creaky voice.

A few moments passed, and then the ‘gate’ began to slowly slide open, revealing another goblin, this one dressed in chainmail and wielding a spear that towered over him. Hog led Roy past the gates and then quickly conversed with his compatriot. After the brief report, second goblin walked up to Roy.

“I Gwab-Chag of Strong Horn Clan, good to see human,” they shook hands and Roy introduced himself.

“I’m Roy... Of the United States...” then the armored goblin took the lead and began walking.

“Have good time Roy, talk to Hog again eh,” the goblin waved his hand and Roy couldn’t help but wave back, three days after the end of the world and he was making small talk with goblins.

The barricade he had passed, the two rows of housed, and another barricade almost a hundred meters further down enclosed a small stretch of street. What had been a thoroughfare was now packed with multicolored tents, each set up above a small wooden platform that kept it above the water. There was a stunning variety of colors, from pale yellow, to deep purple, which adorned the tents. They also varied in size from ones little bigger than a stall to one that was almost as large as the houses that lined the street.

It was lively too, goblins walked across the wooden bridges set up between the tents, some rushing and others in conversation with their peers. It almost felt like a block in a large city, with the pure concentration of... people and the diversity that abounded. There was armor, and furs, but surprisingly, simple tunics, robes, and plain dresses. Even the torches, set on poles high above the ground seemed to look like streetlights to Roy.

As the armored goblin led him towards the center of the small encampment, Roy’s eyes wandered further afield, to the barely distinguishable outline of the two rows of houses. The gaps between them had been filled, and various walkways were quickly installed along the roofs, bedning and twisting across tops of the houses. He could even make out the little figures that paced along the makeshift wall. Here was civilization in a way, something he had grown fond of in its absence. At the same time the walls and the constant guard reminded Roy that all was not well, despite the spirit the place seemed to emit. The prevalence of goblins decked for combat was obvious; they were always the ones rushing about, faces tight and hands clutching implements of war.

The goblins were worried, they were afraid. The fur garbed goblins seemed to be scouts. The guards were clothed in chainmail and spears. The occasional goblin was bedecked in a veritable armory, a mish mash of various bits of armor, an axe, several spears, a sword in a scabbard, and several daggers. Their faces were gaunt and the little skin that showed often displayed an intricate tattoo, this was the warrior caste. Roy examined one that rushed past him and his guide, the individual was level twenty-eight.

How could they be afraid? What about Roy who was level four? It made sense though, they knew what was out there, and Roy had only sampled a smidgen of it. He recalled the Goliath, a hulking mound of flesh more powerful than the most elite goblin warrior. Pushing the past back into his subconscious, Roy chased after Chag who had opened up a lead while Roy was busy taking in the sights. Now he was convinced the information the chief had was important.