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  “But you and this friend of yours, this drow, you are safe?” another elder asked.

  “We are for now. And we have access to food nearby that might last us a year. But even with luck, the best we can hope for is five or ten more years of life. A life of hiding in fear. So Mace is attempting to find a way for us to live in your world permanently.”

  “Permanently?” Arlon asked.

  “In essence, he will transfer our souls to this world. We will leave our bodies in our world to die.”

  There was silence for a while, as the elders considered her words. Finally, one of them asked “And this will happen for just the two of you?”

  Shari looked at her feet. She unconsciously scratched the piglet’s ears as she answered. “We know of no other survivors at the moment. Mace heard from two others a few days ago, but they were killed by one of the undead. If we find other survivors who still have the ability to reach Elysia, we could share with them the knowledge of how to transfer their souls here. That is why I’m going to meet with Mace. So that we can begin our search for other outworlders.”

  The elders took a few moments to speak quietly among themselves. Shari continued to scratch the pig’s ears. Looking down, she smiled as she realized it was asleep and snoring softly.

  Arlon spoke for the elders. “A few of us here remember the time before outworlders came. You were, to be frank, quite a nuisance when you first arrived. Tearing around everywhere, killing everything in sight. Demanding attention and forcing your ways upon us. But over time, our world grew accustomed to outworlders. Even came to depend upon you. You take on dangerous tasks that our people fear to attempt. You spend gold and boost our economy. And some of you even become friends.” He smiled at Shari before continuing. “We have felt the loss of your fellow outworlders keenly over the last months. If you can help to bring even a few of them back to us, we would be grateful.”

  Quest Received: Return of the Rambunctious

  Difficulty Level: Epic

  Seek out surviving outworlders and help them to return to Elysia.

  Reward: Variable.

  Shari bowed her head. “I will do all I can.” Was all she could say.

  Arlon spoke again. “As will we. We will send messages to the leaders of every kingdom of the surface world. Asking them to contact us if there are any surviving outworlders in their lands. And we will let it be known that your friend Mace is not to be killed on sight if our people encounter him in the forest. I’m afraid we cannot allow him entry to the city.”

  “That is very kind of you. Thank you.” Shari replied. “Our quest will be much less difficult if we’re not dodging arrows constantly!” she smiled at the elders.

  The council members all rose and began to file out of the hall. Arlon motioned for Shari to join him, and they walked back to his tree. The pig slept the entire way.

  “You should consider making him a companion.” Arlon mentioned as they took seats in his sitting room. “He’s very young, like you. But he’ll grow quickly. And you might find many advantages to having a companion such as him.”

  “You mean… like a pet?” Shari asked, unconsciously using the game term.

  “No, more than a pet. More like a partner. You bond with each other. Take care of each other. A full-grown boar would make an impressive battle companion. He could distract your enemies while you kill them from a distance. He may even grow large enough for you to ride him. He can feed himself by foraging for roots and nuts, or feed off the corpses of your enemies. Hogs are omnivores, after all. And if you can stand the smell, he can help keep you warm on cold nights when you can’t light a fire.”

  He’s saying that piglet here can be a tank, a mount, and… what? A snuggie? Not a bad idea.

  “And how do I go about bonding with him? What about the times when I return to my world?”

  “To bond him with him, you need only feed him, which you have done, look him in the eye, and think about what he’s thinking. When you feel a connection, you’ve bonded. As for the times you return to your world, companions can be dismissed. That is especially useful when they’ve been wounded. You can dismiss them, and as long as they’re gone for at least an hour, they will return to you fully healed.”

  Looking down at the piglet, which was currently lying on its back in her lap, much like a human child would, she tickled its tummy a bit. The little boar squirmed and snorted, opening one eye to see who was bothering his rest. She tickled him some more, waking him fully. Then she lifted him so that he stood on his hind legs. Holding him upright, she stared into his eyes.

  Hey there little fella. I don’t know if you can hear me, but how’d you like to be my companion? We’ll have some adventures, see the world. That is, if I can keep Mace and other folks from turning you into breakfast!

  The piglet was returning her stare now, gazing deep into her eyes. It made a few inquisitive snorting sounds but continued to stare. Shari began to feel a sensation that was one part sleepy, one part hungry. With some curiosity mixed in.

  Just then the piglet belched, interrupting the connection. Looking quite pleased with himself, he closed his eyes. “My god.” Shari said, catching a whiff of the piglet’s breath. “I’m never feeding you hogroot again. It smells like something died in there.”

  She gently set the pig on the floor. Looking at Arlon, she said “I felt… I think I felt what he was feeling. Hungry, sleepy.”

  “That is a good beginning. As your bond grows stronger, you will begin to be able to see what he sees. Either in memories, or as he sees it.” Arlon instructed.

  “This is amazing. Thank you, Arlon. What animal did you bond with?”

  “Oh, I am bonded with several. And have been bonded with many more over the years. Some have been destroyed. A few, I released to go and raise families of their own.” Arlon’s voice became quiet. Shari sat in silence with him.

  After a moment he said. “Now! You must give him a name. And train him! Take him with you tomorrow as you search for your quest items. His hearing is nearly as sharp as yours. And while his eyesight is limited, his sense of smell is many times better. He will be able to warn of dangers well before you sense them. But keep him safe. He cannot grow if you get him killed.”

  Gathering the piglet back in her arms, she walked back to the inn. Setting the snoring hunk of bacon on her bed, she dismissed him into whatever nether realm pets went to. Then she sat on the bed herself, and logged out.

  Chapter 9

  Ho-Ho’s Twinkies n Pies, Oh My.

  Mace exited his pod and took his usual shower. Dressing in sweats and a “Big Johnson” T-shirt, he unlocked his door and headed for the kitchen. He noticed Shari’s door was open as he passed. He found her in the kitchen, pulling a box of pasta down from a shelf. He found himself admiring the view as she stood on her toes and stretched to reach the box. Sensing him in the room, she turned and caught him looking. She just smiled. “Good evening.”

  “Hi. Good session in the game?” he asked.

  “I leveled up! And learned a new skill. Bonded with a pet. He’s a piglet, and he’s adorable!” her smile was contagious. Mace returned one of his own.

  “I picked up a pet, too. Sort of bonded with her accidentally. She’s a… sort of monkey-squirrel-raccoon thingy. And yeah, cute.”

  The two of them worked to cook dinner together, exchanging notes on their time in-game. Mace was glad to hear that the elven council was going to help them find players. And not try to kill him the moment he entered the forest.

  They sat down to eat, each of them with a plate of spaghetti and meat sauce, and a barely still edible apple. Shari twirled a large blob of pasta onto her fork, then stuffed it into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel’s, she rolled her eyes. “Mmmmmmgoood!” she mumbled around the mouthful. When she’d chewed and swallowed, she added “Been forever since I’ve been able to cook food. Always had to worry the smell would draw zombies.”

  Mace nodded in understanding. He was reminded again ho
w easy he’d had it compared to her experiences. “There’s a cookbook in a drawer over there. Lots of good recipes. I like to just invent stuff, myself. We’re kind of limited now, without fresh meat or vegetables.”

  “I was thinking about that. Is there one of those big home-stores around here?” Shari asked.

  “Sure. A couple of them. Closest is… maybe three miles? What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, this is a glass building. And you’ve got four floors above ground. What if we got a bunch of bags of potting soil, and some seeds, from one of those stores. We could cover the floors by the windows upstairs in dirt, and grow some vegetables. We’d have to water them by hand. Maybe the sun coming through the windows would be enough. And they’d be protected from birds and bugs.”

  Mace’s jaw dropped. More than two months down here and he’d never thought of that. Maybe because he had no transportation. He was used to thinking in terms of small areas.

  “You’re a genius!” he shouted. “That might work! And if it doesn’t, we can find some UV lights and use one of the empty levels to farm. That could be…” his voice trailed off. Shari’s idea could extend the viability of living down here by years. Decades.

  They spent the rest of dinner talking about what they’d like to grow. They were unanimous about tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes. Shari wanted to try corn, but Mace argued that it was a low yield per square foot. They compromised and agreed to try corn under lights underground if they could find the lights. Each of the unused levels was roughly an acre. That was enough space for corn. They discussed using the planter boxes with fake trees in the lobby to grow herbs for seasoning the food. Mace was initially against it, saying they could get dried herbs by the pound at the grocery store. But Shari was adamant that fresh herbs made all the difference, and Mace decided it was smarter just to agree. Especially when she hugged him after he acquiesced. She hugged him again when he suggested they pull out the fake trees and attempt to grow a small fruit tree or two, holding up an apple core with seeds.

  As they cleaned up and did the dishes, they talked briefly about farming on the roof of the building, or of the parking garage. The conversation ended quickly when Shari mentioned contaminated birds getting into the crops.

  After dinner they separated. Shari wanted to use one of the computers to see if she could research growing things indoors. Mace went to work on Peabody’s program. He wanted to get the AI online. Mainly because it could monitor all the outdoor cameras and notify them if there was any movement nearby. If they were going to be moving about openly in the lobby and near the upper windows, he wanted to be sure nothing outside was watching.

  They’d agreed to have breakfast together at 7am, then head out to the store for soil, seeds, and tools. After working for a few hours in the security room, Mace decided to turn in. He wanted to get up early and be ready for their outing. On his way back to his room, he met up with Shari just exiting hers.

  “Mace. I was just thinking about you.” She said when she spotted him.

  Adopting his coolest double-0 secret agent suave voice, he replied “Oh, really?”

  She stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. “Dork. I was going to ask if you knew anyplace around that might have grow lights. I really think we need the corn.”

  Mace made his most obvious disappointed face. With a sigh, he answered “They might have some at the home store we’re going to. Though, to cover the kind of area you’re talking about, we probably need industrial ones. Or maybe we can figure out a way to replace the existing bulbs with UV bulbs? We could try a light store…” he trailed off, lost in the thought.

  When he realized that nobody had said anything in a while, he looked up to find Shari grinning at him. “Lost ya there for a minute. I could practically see your brain smoking.”

  Mace could feel his face reddening. “I’m sorry. I got used to being alone. My social graces aren’t what they once were, m’lady.” He made a small bow, sweeping one arm to the side as he did so.

  “I understand.” Shari replied. “I’m not used to company either. Had to remind myself to put on clothes before leaving my room earlier.”

  Mace pressed his lips together and locked his jaw shut to avoid the comments that fought to escape his mouth. Shari, realizing the opening she’d left him, watched warily as he struggled to behave. After a moment, he took a deep breath, saying “Yeah. Uhm, me too.” he left it at that, which earned him an odd look from her.

  Letting him off the hook, she continued. “I don’t think we can do any kind of fruit tree in the lobby. They need deeper soil than we can provide. We can’t even knock a hole in the floor, cuz there are just more levels below.”

  Mace nodded. “Even if there weren’t, if there was soil below the slab, it might be contaminated. But I was thinking we might be able to do other fruit. Like grapes.” He hadn’t been thinking that at all. He’d just pulled that out of his ass in hopes of regaining some credibility.

  Shari just nodded her head. “Okay well, good night. I’ll see you at breakfast.” She made an awkward little waving motion before turning and retreating to her room.

  Mace shook his head, mumbling “Smooth move, dipshit” as he walked into his own room and shut the door. After a moment’s hesitation, he locked it.

  Not even looking at his pod, he crawled into bed. He set the alarm clock next to his bed and closed his eyes.

  *****

  Shari sat on the bed in her room. Next to her on a towel sat her favorite Glock 19. The lightweight gun was disassembled for cleaning, but her mind was on other things.

  What’s with him? He flirted with me just a little with that corny bow, but when I left him a train-sized opening to do it again, he backed off. I know he’s not gay. He was checking out my assets in the kitchen. Maybe he’s just a shy nerd? He did say he was here to be some kind of programmer. But a girl has needs. Plus he’s decent looking, and funny, and might very well be the last man on earth.

  Shaking her head, she quickly reassembled the gun, loaded it, and set it on the nightstand next to her bed.

  As she lay down and closed her eyes, she considered showing up at breakfast in just a t-shirt. She had a wicked grin on her face as she drifted off to sleep.

  *****

  The next morning, Mace awoke before the alarm went off. Just a few minutes before, so it wasn’t worth trying to go back to sleep. He got up and hit the shower, then dressed in his ‘going out’ clothes. Which meant thick combat pants, shirt, tactical armor, and heavy boots. He set his gloves, helmet, and weapons on the desk near the door, and headed for the kitchen.

  When he arrived, he found Shari dressed similarly in jeans tucked into boots, a thick long-sleeved sweatshirt with a turtleneck, and a pair of goggle sunglasses around her neck.

  “Good morning.” He called out as he entered. Shari turned to smile at him. She was holding several packets of instant oatmeal. Maple and Brown sugar flavored. Mace’s favorite. She had a tea kettle on one of the burners. He pointed at the oatmeal “My favorite. How’d you know?”

  Shari put one finger to her chin and looked toward the ceiling like she was thinking. “Well, it might be because I’m psychic. Or maybe because there are like twelve boxes of this flavor, and one box of the apple & cinnamon?”

  Mace took a seat at the counter. “You’ve discovered my secret! But, for all you know, there COULD have been twelve boxes of the apple flavor, and I ate them, leaving the maple behind.” He tried to sound mysterious.

  “You know, that never occurred to me.” Shari pretended to be thoughtful. “I just assumed you were like all other guys, simple-minded and usually only focused on one thing. Your minds aren’t usually hard to read.”

  “Well, if your mind reading tells you I’m focused on some honey for my oatmeal, you are absolutely right!” he grinned at her as he got up and headed to the pantry for the bottle of honey. She just snorted in reply.

  They ate breakfast, then cleaned up, all the while continuing their cas
ual banter. Mace was much more comfortable than he’d been the night before, and actually held up his end.

  They both stopped in their rooms to pick up weapons and gear, before getting on the elevator and ascending to the ground floor. Per his habit, Mace spent some time studying the security mirror before moving into the corridor where they could be seen from outside the lobby. Seeing no movement, they quickly made their way to the parking garage door. Again, they paused. This time to listen. Hearing nothing, Mace slowly opened the door and looked around. The area seemed clear, so they exited the door and loaded themselves into Bertha. Shari started the engine, and pointed Bertha out of the garage.

  Mace gave directions as they moved further out into the suburbs. Here the roads were mostly undamaged, and there were fewer burned out cars, though the roads were often still blocked by abandoned vehicles. Shari pointed out a police cruiser parked up on a sidewalk, one door open. “We should check that on the way back. Might be another radio. Or a shotgun.”

  Mace’s attention was focused in the other direction. “There’s a Hostess truck over there.” He pointed to a parking lot in front of a convenience store. “My inner fat kid just got all kinds of excited.”

  “We’ll hit it on the way back. Don’t want to squish all your ho-ho’s and Twinkies under bags of dirt, right?” Shari teased.

  Mace watched with his face pressed against the window as they left the truck behind. “I guess you’re right. But we are definitely stopping back here. Shit, if we can, I’m driving that bad boy back to the garage!”

  Shari shook her head. “Too risky. You don’t know what kind of bugs might be in there. Better to grab a few boxes worth of clean packages. We can always come back.”