Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Drew sat at the head of the kitchen table as he listened to his friends and family members discuss the news he'd learned several hours ago. Those hours had allowed him to cool his rage and steady his thoughts so he could determine the best course of action given the circumstances. Many of the community's hunting parties had been pretty far out, and thus had taken awhile to return to home base, but prior to this meeting starting, he'd received word that everyone had been accounted for. The gates to the community were now closed and locked, and he had minions patrolling up to three miles in diameter from his house. If anything so much as sneezed in the patrolled area, he'd be the first to know about it.

The members of the security team and hunting parties were currently relaxing after having just come back, but Drew had sent orders to ensure they remained vigilant and ready at a moment's notice. He was sure the news would get around quickly, but for now, the most important thing was listening to the opinions of the people who mattered most to him. He'd broken the news to them at the kitchen table, what followed had been almost an hour of nonsensical yelling, anger, and frustration. People's emotions were running high, but he wanted to give them time to absorb the knowledge and cool off before getting to the meat and potatoes of the discussion. What were they going to do?

"Are you sure this information is accurate?" Robert asked Drew.

"You know as much as I do. I haven't been able to verify the story, as that would require scouting out the town, sneaking in, and finding someone to talk with. Given the nature of the claims, I felt it was a better choice to recall all hunting parties, and go into a temporary lockdown until we discussed what I had learned." Drew answered.

"So, that's a no. We shouldn't act rashly then. Even if the story is verified, should we do anything other than help the people we can? Maybe they can be negotiated with?" Robert proposed.

"If any of this is true, these aren't people who can be reasoned with. Before The Descent, the council went out of its way to make your life a living hell, and that was just for trying to open a community center. Strictly speaking, they had no reason for those actions, and you likely heard the rumors around the grapevine. You're Methodist, and they're Baptists, and they didn't want a community center with you backing it." Drew countered.

"I'm aware of the rumors. I don't hold any faith in them however. They wouldn't do that just because we're part of different denominations. People just don't do that." Robert replied.

"I believe you're mistaken, Robert. I've devoted the majority of my free time to reading about the history of Earth. Violence and prejudice over differences in religion are in fact, incredibly common." Spock interrupted.

"Not in America, and not in today's age. That stuff just doesn't happen anymore." Robert shook his head.

"I disagree with you. Much of Earth's recent history is filled with violence, hate, and discrimination for various reasons that people found acceptable. Religion, race, gender, sexual orientation. I'd actually say that both the level and quantity of these things have increased drastically since the industrial revolution." Spock said.

"Then we must agree to disagree. I do not believe our fellow humans, our neighbors, are capable of the things they're being accused of." Robert replied resolutely.

"The real question is, what do we do with this information?" Amber said.

"Indeed." Spock nodded his head.

"There are only two things you can do right now. You either do nothing, or you do something." Beefcake said.

The group sat in thought for several minutes before someone spoke up.

"We can't do nothing. If, and I do mean if, any of this is true, then not only is there a major threat next door, but people could be in serious danger." Mark said.

"Agreed." Spock said.

"Same." Amber nodded.

"I agree with my husband." Miranda said.

Even Drew's mom had been paying close attention to the meeting. She, and Beefcake both nodded their heads, and all eyes turned to Drew and Robert.

"I wish to give them the benefit of the doubt. Still, checking on the situation couldn't hurt." Robert said slowly.

Robert turned his head to view Drew's response. The silence left everyone feeling slightly naked as Drew eyed the members gathered around the table.

"We'll investigate." Drew said.

People nodded their heads, everyone agreed on that basic principal at the very least.

"However..." Drew added

"However?" Mark asked.

"We should approach this with the utmost caution. We would be fools to blindly trust anything until we can verify it, both the man's story or our neighbors' actions. Right now, our biggest advantage is no one knows about us. We should keep it that way. Worst case scenario, if they find out about us, and we're not prepared, then we'll be sitting ducks."

"So, what do you suggest?" Mark asked.

"Surveillance. I want to help those people if they're under duress, but our own safety must come first. I'll send out the entire flock of crows that I have, I'll post them throughout the woods near the town, and on the outskirts of the town itself. I'll position them up high in the trees, and have them do sweeping passes from high altitude over the town. I want to know where the people are, how many there are, what equipment their using, and what their hunting parties are up to." Drew replied.

"But what if the people really are being killed for experience? We'd be leaving them to die while you collect that information." Amber said.

"Yes, yes we would. However, if what the guy said is true, and we walk in there guns blazing without understanding the situation, it could be very, very dangerous for us. What if they have armor and weapons? What if they have a bunch of firearms that still function? What if it's a trap? Plus, what level are they? What about the council members? Are they F Grades still, or did any of them make it to E Grade like I have?"

"Will the birds be able to collect all that information though? How would they verify the man's story?" Mark asked.

"They'll be able to help, and keep us out of harm's way until we can gather a clearer picture. The best thing we can do is watch them for a couple of days, and then capture one of their hunting parties if they're lower leveled. The hunting party should be able to confirm or deny any accusations. If need be, I'll sneak a bird in near a family to try to talk to them. But that's a last resort because I don't know who we can trust, and that would be tipping our hand. A hunting party going missing would be concerning, but a talking bird showing up and asking the same questions that the missing people did..."

"I see. What if their hunting party won't surrender, or refuses to cooperate?" Robert asked grimly.

"If we can safely transport them back here, that would be ideal..." Drew answered.

"And if we can't?" Robert asked.

Everyone was left thinking about the answer that laid upon the opposite side of the question. Silence hung in the air, as Drew thought about the issue. How far was he willing to go to ensure his loved one's safety? Was he willing to take another human's life to prevent information leaking out about their existence? It was far different than defending yourself in the moment, or ending an immediate threat to himself or others. It would be cold-blooded murder. Murder to prevent future harm from coming to the people of the community, but still premediated nonetheless. Could he really do that? From almost any perspective, it would be considered an evil act. Whether it was prior to The Descent, or after it, murder was still murder. Killing people to silence them would definitely be up there 'this is evil' category.

But what was the alternative? Try to capture them even if they refused to surrender? Maybe that would be better than outright killing them, but he'd still end up killing people who were just defending themselves in the process. But, what if they refused to talk? Was he really willing to either keep them prisoner, murder them, or torture them for information at that point? Hopefully he wouldn't need to push enough to find out. He'd kill if necessary, but prisoners didn't sit right, and torture was something he really didn't want to ever engage in. He'd rather just kill someone than prolong any suffering. Why did he even need to think of this stuff to begin with?

"Hopefully we can." Drew said.

"Yes, but if that's not an option?" Robert asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to harm another human being, and I certainly don't want to kill anyone, but I won't put the people here in danger either. I really, truly hope that the man was lying or misunderstood the situation, but if he's correct..."

"Then we would be forced to pursue violence in order to save the other people." Spock concluded.

"Yeah." Drew said.

"I see. I mean no offense by this, but I will not be privy to the murder of our neighbors, regardless of the situation." Robert said.

"I get that. I understand where you're coming from. But do you feel that way even if given no other options?" Drew inquired.

"There's always an alternative to violence. Diplomacy and words must win out at the end of the day." Robert responded.

"Just to confirm that I understand your stance... even if it would mean certain death for the people living here, you would not harm another human to prevent it?" Mark asked slowly and carefully.

"That's correct." Robert said resolutely.

"You're going to wind up dead." Beefcake said.

"Excuse me?" Robert asked.

"You're an idealist to the point of your own detriment. Your morals and ideals will lead to your death, and the death of others." The demon responded.

"We all die, and there's nothing wrong with being proud of the way I live my life."

"No, not all beings die. There's nothing wrong with being proud with how you're choosing to live. But it is stupid. Your actions impact more than just yourself."

"Excuse me everyone, I need some fresh air." Robert excused himself from the table.

Drew sat in silence while the man left. He understood where both Robert and Beefcake were coming from. Before The Descent, when Drew stilled played tabletop games with Mark and other people, Robert would have fit in with a very specific stereotype. Lawful good, otherwise known as lawful stupid. Drew really hoped Robert managed to live the life he wanted to without everything coming and crashing down on him, but his gut was telling him that Beefcake was right. Robert was going to get himself, and possibly others killed if he didn't learn how to adapt. He liked the man, he liked what he stood for, and he respected what Robert tried to do. But he might end up becoming an issue, especially if the town council were a bunch of evil bastards.

"This could be a problem." Mark said.

Everyone else nodded their heads.

"Indeed."

"Yeah. I like the guy... but does he remind you of a specific Paladin from back in our DnD games at all?" Mark asked Drew.

"You mean your paladin? Yes, Robert does remind me of him."

Mark blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"This is going to come back and bite us in the ass, isn't it?" Mark asked.

"It could, yes. I appreciate the difference in opinion, as it's good to hear another perspective.." Drew said

"But?"

"Maybe we should let Robert worry about domestic affairs, rather than involve him when it comes to making hard decisions?" Drew asked.

"Do you believe this will become a future source of conflict and division, Drew Wright?" Spock inquired.

"That's my fear, yes. Rather than letting the wound fester and become worse, it may be a better idea to disinfect it now."

"You're not seriously talking about killing him?!" Miranda asked with disbelief.

"What!? No! What kind of person do you think I am, jeez. I'm just saying that maybe we don't involve him when it comes to potential conflicts with other human beings."

"Ohhhhhhh. My bad!" Miranda blushed.

"If the town council turns out to be bad, do you think there's a way to convince Robert without him getting killed?" Amber asked.

"Maybe... let me think on it. For now, let's just focus on gathering intelligence, and prepping our people for the worst case scenario. I hope we're wrong, but I'd rather be prepared just in case. We need Jonathan to start really working on the armor ASAP. I'll send the birds out after we're done here. For the moment, have the hunting parties stay here, and work on their homes, professions, and training. I don't want anyone out and about until we get a better read on the situation, and according to my minions, there are no beasts or monsters within three miles right now. If something comes close, we can have a group sent out, but until then, let's just stay safe."

"Okay"

"Indeed."

"Sounds good."

"BOOF!

"Does that mean I can go watch TV now?"

Drew sighed internally.

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Several days later, Drew had collected enough information from his scouting birds to draw a few conclusions. First, the town did have two or three hunting parties that went out and leveled up by fighting monsters and beasts. Two, there were always patrols of some kind in the town itself, both near the outer barricades they'd erected, and closer towards the town hall area that had been heavily fortified. Three, and most concerning, there was little to no movement in or near the homes that made up the town.

Either the homeowners were hunkered down and refusing to come out due to the monsters and beasts, the homeowners had been killed, or they were simply missing. Out of the hundred and eighty some odd homes that were in town, a good twenty of them were old, decrepit, and abandoned long before The Descent came, and another seventy-five percent had been ransacked, destroyed, or simply burned down since he had been in town last. One hundred and twenty homes in total showed recent signs of a struggle of some kind.

It was a bleak picture once he had the numbers. Only forty homes looked to be untouched, most of which were closer to the center of town. If the homes were anything to go by, the best Drew could hope to find were seventy-five people alive in total. With a town population of around three hundred people, that was a catastrophic loss of life. Between the hunting parties, and the town patrols, he'd counted about twenty-five people. It was difficult to gauge how accurate that number was, as he couldn't look out of all of his scouts simultaneously.

But all of the information he had gathered boiled down to observations and basic guesswork. The fact of the matter was, he hadn't seen another living soul on the streets or within homes. No, he'd only seen the twenty-five people that were split between patrols and hunting parties.

Further complicating matters, of the conversations he'd managed to listen in on, from his birds, none of them had anything confirming or denying the allegations against the town. No one had said anything outright damning, nor anything that could be considered as going counter from what the man he'd rescued had said. The fact was, he'd spent the last three days with his thumb up his ass, constantly watching the people's movements, their fights, and the small bits of conversation they had. Despite all the time, he hadn't gotten the information he was looking for, whether there were other people alive and if they'd been killing people and pets for experience.

At first, he'd thought that the people he was spying on knew they were being watched, and were putting on a show to throw him for a loop. That changed when he saw one hunting party split up, with one member going to shit his brains out behind a bush, and the others deciding the monster-infested woods were a great place to have a threesome. Sure, he thought he was being sneaky with the birds he'd placed high in the trees, or hidden in brush, but he had serious doubts over the authenticity of his observations until the three people went and blew all that out of the water.

He was so paranoid when walking through the woods, that he'd definitely spot an eagle-sized bird sitting in a tree nearby, but these people hadn't. Maybe they hadn't dealt with flying enemies yet? Or maybe they were so used to seeing hawks and eagles around prior to The Descent that the birds didn't spook them? It was hard to tell.

There was one bit of good news however. Every single person of the twenty-five strong security force was still in F Grade. They were all around level ten to fifteen at most. Also, none of them had anything more than a basic axe for chopping wood, a machete, or an old ass gun. The guns would be the biggest hurdle, but unless someone had a serious case of prepper syndrome then ammo was likely limited. Gun loving people were known to have at least four or five boxes of ammo for each caliber they owned, but with gun and calibers so limited now, he doubted they had a large enough stockpile to become a serious threat. Well, a serious threat weapon-wise. They still had ten to fifteen levels worth of stat points.

Class-wise, it seemed like almost everyone had chosen some form of warrior. Or at least he hadn't seen any spellcasters of any kind. Maybe some of them were archers, but it was difficult to tell since none of them carried bows with them.

He'd held another meeting, this time without Robert, and informed everyone of what he'd learned. Two plans had been put forward in order to gather more information. The first was to sneak into town during the night with a group of community members that had a darkvision ability of some kind. That would limit who could participate, and it limited the amount of people that could go as well. Even though the skill was becoming more common as people leveled up and information was shared, the skill wasn't widespread yet. Also, if any of the security patrols had darkvision and they ran into the community members, it could turn into a bloodbath for both sides.

The other issue with the first plan was how many buildings they'd need to search. While many of the houses were in bad condition, there was always the chance someone, or something could be hiding in them. It would be good if they found innocent people, but very bad if a home now had inhabitants of the monster and beast kind. Plus, there were all the other buildings to check besides homes. Old businesses that were shut down, the school, the two churches, plus a couple of current businesses and the town hall. There were simply too many buildings to check thoroughly over the course of a night while keeping a low profile and trying to gather information.

All those issues led to the backup plan that Drew had originally proposed. Capturing one of the small hunting parties. They were going to try it Robert's way first, without telling Robert, but he wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks either. The current plan was to swarm a hunting party with his minions. This way he wouldn't be putting any living or soulflame community members at personal risk. Losing minions would suck, and they were getting harder to replace recently, but overall it was a much safer option.

Additionally, with so many minions, it should be fairly easy to overwhelm a small team of four or five people. The idea was to capture them after all, not kill them. Getting them to surrender would be next to impossible with undead minions, but capturing them was a different story. They just had to be held tight, tied down, or knocked unconscious. Now, the obvious flaw in this plan was why they'd decided to not include Robert in the discussion. What they were planning would technically be considered kidnapping. Without even talking to Robert, they all knew he would be against it. But really, he would be against any action that didn't involve trying to talk things out, and then dying when shit hit the fan.

The worst case scenario would be if they had a runner. By some miracle, if one of the town's hunting party members managed to flee before being captured... that would be a pickle. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. Drew, Scolder, and Mark would all be nearby, well out of sight and hidden. Just in case someone tried to make a break for it back to town. Between the three of them, they should be able to outrun and overpower any single individual. Mark's agility was higher than his own, and Mark hadn't hit E Grade yet. Scolder was even faster than Mark, and Drew could take a serious beating if needed, and hopefully incapacitate anyone with a [Baleful Strike] or [Agony].

These events led to the current situation...

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Mark and Drew stood in a heavily forested area, they were both immensely focused on their current task... to see who could throw the stick the farthest. The goal was simple, but the execution was far less so. With so many trees around, it limited his straight-line visibility. So while both he and his friend had the strength to really chuck that stick, eventually it would hit a tree. At that point Scolder raced to collect it and brought it back to them. Were they really playing fetch with an undead coyote in the middle of the woods? Yes, yes they were. And it was damn fun.

One could argue that doing something so idiotic completely bypassed the whole premise of stealth for the operation, but Drew had the trees and the town fully scouted out. His birds were set to alert him to any movement or sound. He had no idea when the hunting party they were waiting to kidnap would come by, so to pass the time they'd invented a fun new game. Okay, fetch wasn't new. But fetch with an undead coyote was. Fetch with an undead coyote, while trying to toss a stick the size of a tree limb for as far as possible without hitting another tree was definitely new.

To be fair, the last time Drew had any real bro time with a friend was a long time ago. Sure he could count the hunting trip with Mark to kill the hogs during the Pre-Descent, but Mark had ended up wounded as hell, and Drew had carried him home to Miranda for healing. He'd also spent a great deal of time with Spock during the week leading to the Descent where they'd been in the truck listening to music and shopping, but that felt more like escapism due to the stress of doomsday being right around the corner at the time. No, right now, this was actual relaxation. This was bro time.

"So then I stuck my finger in..." Mark continued.

"Okay, okay I get it. Too graphic man." Drew chuckled.

Drew heaved the tree limb through the trees, watching it fly into the distance before its tip caught a curved branch of its still living cousin. Scolder raced off to his prize.

"Damn, that was pretty good." Mark said while nodding his head.

"Yeah, but I still can't get the limb to bend while in flight. I don't know how you managed to create a fucking curve-ball with a branch that's as tall as you used to be."

"It's my mad skills bro." Mark boasted with faux confidence.

"Its something, that's for sure. Where were we? Oh! Right, how are thing with Miranda since ya'll changed bodies and leveled up so much?"

"Good man. We've been good. Life has changed dramatically, but we're still us. We eat, we work, we sleep. We spend as much time together as we can in between everything."

"There's been no issues or anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Miranda's family. Your family. Has worrying about them caused a lot of stress?" Drew asked.

Scolder came running back to them, and dropped the branch at Mark's feet.

"Yeah, but I mean, what can we really do, ya know? The first two weeks after The Descent were the worst, we both assumed the worst. We prayed for them, but we also grieved. Her family was in New Jersey, so there's no way we could make it there to find out, and with cellphones cut off. Mine were still in Dallas area, back in the old house I grew up in. That would be easier to get to, but we'd need to take a truck and there's no telling what the highways would look like now. We're doing better now though. Just living the best we can. Living for each other, with each other."

Mark picked up the branch and tossed it after some careful aiming. Drew had a sneaking suspicion that was quickly validated once he used his [Mana Sense] skill.

"I fucking knew it! You're manipulating your mana to change the branch's direction mid-flight!" Drew accused his friend.

"Finally figured it out huh?" Mark chuckled.

"When did you get so good at that man? I could probably do it if I practiced a bit more with my mana manipulation skill, but when did you pick it up?"

"Oh, I've had that skill from the start, it came with my race. I didn't start practicing until Sindra mentioned what I could do with it."

The branch dropped to the ground after striking a tree far off in the distance. Scolder was already en route. Drew didn't even hear the thing hit the ground it was so far away, which considering his perception was very impressive.

"Niceeeee. That beat my record. Had to use a skill to do it, but still fucking awesome! So, what did Sindra say about the skill?" Drew asked.

"She said if I used it a bunch, and tried doing new and unique things with it, I could earn a new skill from it. She said that I am well suited to a rogue-style build, so she recommended using the skill to manipulate my, and my enemies weapons. Specifically to deflect, parry, and pull weapons off their course so I can dodge easier. Also, she said I could use it to make traps."

"Traps, huh? How would that work?"

"Like, imagine this area we're in now. I could place a whole bunch of poisoned blades and hide them in and around the trees. I then attached strings of mana to them, and tie the mana string to my finger, or wrist. Whenever I wanted, I could trigger the trap by pulling the mana strings back into my body rapidly, or make them move in specific directions. A guy walks into this area, and it would turn into a killing field full of poison anytime I wanted, and I could control dozens of blades all at once."

"Holy shit dude! That sounds fucking awesome! Have you done something like that yet?" Drew asked, amazed at his friend's idea.

"Well, no. Not yet. I'm able to use two or three right now, but I don't have enough control over it to do dozens yet."

"Ah. That's a shame. Still, two or three hidden blades are better than none, ya know? Wait..."

The birds alerted him. It was a hunting party making their way out of town in his direction.

"Looks like it's go time." Drew said.

"They're coming?"

"Small party. Four people. Oh, oh my."

"What?"

"It's that party that decided to turn the woods into a fuckfest while their buddy was behind a tree shitting."

"No way! Are we going to fuck with them?" Mark asked excitedly.

"Dude, we're already kidnapping the poor fucks..."

"Oh." Mark replied dejectedly.

"Of course we're going to fuck with them!" Drew said with a mischievous smile on his face.