Success and Failure Hang in the Balance (Part 1)

Ignoring the snide comment from Sherlock, Grant quickly stood up and turned to face the direction that marked the epicenter of the quakes.

What he saw, was what Grant could only assume used to be a Javelina, but this one was the size of an F150, at the very least.

Even from 200 yards away, clearly outside the range of his Overclocked Perception skill, Grant could sense an intense amount of danger and killing intent. He could only imagine what it would feel like to be standing directly in front of it.

What made the situation even worse, was that surrounding the bigger javelina was a large group of much smaller monsters. There were smaller javelina's, mutated dogs, mutated cats, even a couple mutated roadrunners among other types monsters Grant couldn't quite make out from where he was standing.

The more Grant examined the situation the more apprehensive he became. This was starting to look like a fight that he really didn't want to take part in.

His instincts were screaming at him to turn tail and run away as fast as his strength and agility would carry him and then continue running until his stamina eventually ran out.

Unfortunately, before he even had the chance to turn around and take his first step in the opposite direction, Grant heard the sound of multiple screams.

He hadn't noticed at first since he was solely focused on the giant monster and the group surrounding it, but after looing closer at the surroundings, he saw what looked like a family of three running away from a group of smaller monsters that had detached themselves from the larger group. Leading the group of three, was a young man who looked no older than 16 or 17 and a young girl who couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 years old. They appeared to be followed by their mother who was doing her best to keep them moving forward.

In that instant, Grant didn't hesitate. He forced every ounce of his strength into his legs and ran as fast as he could towards the three people and the subsequent group of monsters chasing after them.

Grant was still frustrated with what had happened with Jeff and Matt but he wanted to believe that they were an exception to the rule and not everyone were terrible people like they were.

No matter how strong he became or how far he walked down his future Path, he knew that if he had to walk the Path alone, he would eventually lose himself and be nothing but a shell mindlessly pursuing strength.

He may be arrogant, self assured, and a bit of a jackass but living life alone and in solitude, was no life at all. Plus, strength meant nothing if it didn't serve a greater purpose. At least that was what Grant wanted to believe.

Under Grant's heated gaze, the family was running as fast as they could away from the group of monsters.

Grant yelled towards the family as loud as he could. "RUN TOWARDS ME! I will distract them and give you a chance to get away! Don't look back and just run!"

As his voiced reach the family, he saw them look in his direction and change their the route they were traveling, aiming towards him instead of the direction they were originally headed.

Unfortunately, the group of monsters were gaining quickly on the family of three. Especially the roadrunners. They were fast approaching and would reach the three of them before Grant could get to them.

While Grant was pushing forward with all his might and covering large amounts of distance instantly, it was still not enough to stop the monsters from catching up. When one of the mutated roadrunners caught up with the mother, it snapped its beak towards her leg and latched on, pulling her to the ground.

Following the loud thud that rang out from her being pulled to the ground, was a gut wrenching scream. It sounded like.. well.. like someone was being eaten alive by a monster.

At this point Grant was only a couple dozen feet away from the family, and within a split second had blown past the kids who had paused to look back at their mother.

As Grant blew past the kids he made sure to yell instructions at them to get them moving once again, "Don't stop running kids! I will rescue her!"

Without waiting for a reply, he continued forward until he reached where the mother was being held down.

Once Grant reached the roadrunner, and without even slowing down, Grant kicked the mutated roadrunner that was still pecking at the mothers legs as hard as he could. The moment his leg came into contact with the monster it ended blew apart into hundreds of chunks of blood, guts, and organs which flew in all directions.

{Congratulations on killing Monster Beep-Beep Roadrunner Level 12.

You have absorbed +4 Strength, +7 Agility, +5 Health, and +10 Stamina.}

While the mother was clutching her leg and screaming in pain, Grant grab her by the collar, turned heel and ran back in the direction the kids were heading. He made sure to pull her up into his arms so that she wasn't being dragged across the ground.

Unfortunately, the kids still hadn't resumed running even at that moment. They looked absolutely terrified and were rooted to the same spot they had been when Grant passed by them.

Seeing that they hadn't made any progress at all, Grant was frustrated and couldn't help but yelling at them while pointing at the oversized javelina with his free arm.

"I said RUN! That giant monster over there is bad news! Do you want to die?!"

He knew it was a not the way to treat kids, but with the situation they were in, he had no choice but to take an aggressive approach. He couldn't stomach the idea of watching these kids be killed so he had no choice.

The kids jumped at the volume and power behind Grant's voice and they turned away from him and resumed running immediately after snapping out of their shock. Grant wasn't sure if they were more scared of him or the monster, but it didn't matter as long as it meant they were running away again.

While they were running, Grant would periodically dash in random directions, kicking away any monster that had managed to catch up with them. He could easily overtake the kids, but that wasn't an option so defending them while moving was the only way to keep everyone safe.

Eventually, all they needed to do was make it another 50 feet or so before they reached the edge of the park and that would be where Grant dumped the mother and left her to her kids. He figured the young boy could support her enough to allow them to escape.

If Grant kept running with them, eventually the large group of smaller monsters would catch up with them and the family would once again be in danger. Although Grant could easily defend against the monsters, he couldn't be everywhere at once. So while he could survive the attacks of the smaller monsters, the family would probably end up dying while Grant was being swarmed by their large numbers.

One fortunate thing for the group of humans, was that the giant javelina hadn't moved since Grant had joined the fray. Even while he ran towards the family and fought the group of smaller monsters off, it still remained there, standing still and watching.

He had a sense that the giant javelina was either analyzing the situation at the moment or letting the group of smaller monsters test Grant and the family.

If the giant javelina decided to move while Grant was trying to protect the family from the smaller monsters, then the situation would truly be dire.

While trying to cover the remaining distance to the edge of the park, Grant continued to hold onto the mother while trying his best to fight off the encroaching monsters with any attacks he could manage.

Kicks, body checks, and slaps with his free arm were all he could manage while carrying the woman though.

[Fuck I really wish I had some kind of AOE skill right now. It would be awfully nice if I could control gravity or something like that to clear the area around myself! Just to give myself a little extra time to dump these guys in a safe spot!]

As always though, reality was cruel and the only weapon Grant had available to use right now was himself. He hadn't had a chance to pull Wet Noodle out of its scabbard before he reached the family because he was so focused on reaching them as soon as possible. With the situation he was in now though, that was a decision he regretted.

[Lesson #1 from this fight.. always draw your weapon when heading towards monsters. Don't wait until you're already engaged in a battle.

Lets hope that list doesn't get too long...]

While fighting off the smaller monsters and making sure they didn't reach the two kids in front of him, the group finally managed to reach the edge of the park. Grant did his best to clear out the small monsters close to him so that he could hand the mother over to the boy without any issues.

Ironically enough though, the kids in front of him had taken his words to heart so well after he yelled at them, that they just kept running, so Grant was forced to holler at the teenage boy.

"Hey young man! Come grab your mother. I'm going to engage these monsters while you guys run away!"

It took a moment for the young man to react, but he finally stopped and before he had completely turn around, Grant had already dropped his mother onto his back.

"Good. Take her and run! Don't stop and don't worry about me. I'll take he bastards out and make sure they don't chase you!"

"Thank you Mr. Carrot! Please survive!" yelled the little girl of the family with a cute smile on her face. Although it looked cute, it was clearly forced. Grant could tell that she was trying to be polite, but was also being overwhelmed by fear which made her smile shaky.

Grant nearly fell over after hearing the nickname she used. Since now wasn't the time to correct her though, he just coughed hard a couple times before he smiled back at the little girl,

"You're welcome little miss.

Now go! Find somewhere safe and hide!"

Without giving the girl any chance to reply, Grant turned to face the oncoming horde of smaller monsters. He glanced back momentarily to see the family rounding the opposite corner of the street and disappearing behind the wall.

[Hopefully that lady survives.. That wound looked deep...

Nonetheless, I have more important things to worry about! It's time to fuck shit up, once again!]

And with that, Grant once again lunged headlong into a swarm of monsters.

Fortunately, this time he wasn't absorbed in his own self interest, he was doing it to protect the smile of a little girl and the whatever happiness was left in this world for that family which motivated him even more and allowed him to ignore the fatigue that had been building throughout the day.

Before the group of monsters could reach him, Grant withdrew Wet Noodle from its scabbard, having already learned from Lesson #1.

Grant, having honed his body control and attack angles throughout the zombie massacre earlier in the day, immediately began to destroy the oncoming monsters with extreme efficiency. Since he was faster, stronger, and more agile than the smaller monsters, coupled with the defense of his tracksuit, Grant dispatched of the group fairly quickly.

Notifications continued to appear incessantly at the corner of his vision as Grant fought as hard as he could.

{Congratulations on killing Enraged Peccary Level 12-15 x6

Congratulations on killing Monster Beep-Beep Roadrunner Level 12-14 x8

Congratulations on killing Rabid Killer Dog Level 10-14 x 12

Congratulations on killing ...}

{You have reached level 19.

Gained eight status points to be distributed freely.

You have absorbed +26 Strength, +32 Agility, +47 Health, and +32 Stamina.

You have gained +200 Credits and 4 Random Rolls for successfully leveling up.}

As Grant fought on and on through the group of monsters, he never stopped glancing at the giant javelina. Thankfully no matter how many of the smaller monsters he killed, the giant monster never moved.

The moment the corpse of the final monster of the group hit the ground however, was the moment the giant javelina finally took its first step towards Grant.

[What is this? Some kind of sick endurance test?]