Down In Ohio - Chapter 5

“I should have brought a flashlight.”

It seemed pretty obvious in retrospect, but flashlights were a commodity that quickly went out of style in my world. Sometimes, people found stones or objects that glowed in the dark and would attach those to their armor. Others would merely depend on lighting torches or lanterns to guide their way. As a general rule, it was too dangerous to travel somewhere unknown in the dark. These zones, typically known as dark zones, were avoided by all but the high-level and the most adventurous.

Of course, some people gained night vision as part of their gift. The Precision gift, for example, unlocked night vision. This made such people not just useful for seeing far distances, but also useful for safely clearing out these dark zones.

The rest of them remained on the surface. If there was an area they couldn’t see clearly, they’d throw an explosive spell into it. Admittedly, this led to a lot of wasted resources, but it reduced the loss of people by countless times. The awakening didn’t end the world overnight, and there were, in fact, several areas that maintained civilization. Settlements thrived for years, run by leaders, their soldiers, and the settlers who did basic maintenance jobs. There were even caravans set up for a time, and they even continued publishing news.

Of course, these settlements were wiped out one at a time as the enemies grew stronger and more organized. One of the last newspapers I had seen before the media collapsed was on a study that declared the most deaths occurred within those few moments of entering an unknown dark area. The rumor mill eventually spread that no one should enter any dark areas unless necessary.

So, why was Tony taking such a risk? It was naturally based on another rumor that spread around during the early days. Some people claimed that the awakening had started months before the day of awakening. Cracks had already formed in the Earth’s crust, and monsters and mana were already leaking out. Since the surface was unfamiliar, most monsters remained hidden in the dark. Caves, sewers, and underground access ports became their homes in the weeks preceding the day of awakening.

This was ultimately what led to all of those disappearances. An unlucky person would encounter a monster that wandered out of their hole, or even worse, went into one of these holes themselves, and the monster would kill and eat the person, leaving no trace behind. Ember reminded him of such events happening preceding the awakening while they were in the library, and that’s why he had gone to the gun shop and even taken some risks to acquire weapons. He could have taken things more slowly, but he needed to immediately enter this dangerous place.

This was because there was a second rumor, even rarer than the first. If he hadn’t had the gift of Insight and remembered everything he ever heard, he might have long forgotten about it, too. That’s how little it was spoken about in normal company. The rumor was that someone had managed to kill a monster before the awakening and had opened up the system in advance. Most people’s systems opened on the day of awakening, but if one could open up the system before that day, what advantages could they take? Many had dreamed that it would happen. Maybe their loved ones would have still been alive if they had the power to protect them.

Tony was no different. He wanted to unlock the system. He presumed that he would be unlocking the gift of Insight once again. It was a skill that was even useful to him now, just with what he used to remember, but how useful would it become when he could access it with functional internet and a library he could visit? He could read survivalist books and remember every procedure. He could memorize long-lost manufacturing techniques long lost. He could look at maps and memorize the layout of entire regions. He could make use of the Insight skill as he did the first time. His failure to take proper advantage of his gifts back then had been his life’s greatest regret.

However, to take advantage of it, he first needed to find a monster, and then he needed to kill that monster, all without the support of the system. He wasn’t all that worried. It wasn’t like he had ever gotten to take advantage of the system anyway. Although the system helped in a variety of ways, he had never been among those who could take advantage of it. He had only survived through his willingness to do anything to preserve his life. This meant he fought ferociously, taking any advantage, and he’d run if he encountered something dangerous.

Either way, this was during the earliest period, so if the rumors were right and there were monsters, they would be disorganized, weak, and confused. They shouldn’t be able to put up much resistance for an experienced guy like Tony. At least, that’s what he was hoping for. Most of the early creatures were small subhumans, creatures like goblins and mutated rats. A single shot to the head would probably be a certain kill. That is, if goblins were the thing he found down here.

On the other hand, Tony had only practiced the use of a gun once. He pulled out the Glock the owner had picked out for him, and it wasn’t until he looked at it carefully that he realized it had a tactical light attached to it. Tony hadn’t asked the gunstore owner to do that. He couldn’t help but wonder how the old man knew he’d need one. He switched it on and felt immediately at ease. However, despite having the gun, Tony also held the dirk tightly in his other hand. Between the two of them, he favored the dirk more.

Taking one more breath, Tony stepped forward into the darkness beyond. The oppressive weight of the tunnel pressed in on him, a familiar sensation from countless other dark places he’d been forced into over the years. However, things felt different this time. First off, there was no danger on the surface. Nothing was chasing him. Instead, this was a calculated risk. He was going into danger willingly. It gave him a different feeling, one he hadn’t experienced in a long time… control.

He adjusted the grip on the Glock, pointing it down the long, wet sewer path that extended into the darkness. He listened carefully, but heard nothing that sounded like he was walking into monster territory. A bead of sweat traced a path down his temple, and he wiped it away with the back of his glove, the leather scraping against the stubble on his cheek. He hadn’t shaved this morning, and it was starting to show. Part of him wanted to let it grow out again, to hide his face. However, the world was still civilized, and he’d still need this face to call in more favors before the awakening.

He took another step forward, the squelch of his boot in something foul-smelling, but he was used to such smells and instead kept his focus. His gaze swept over the curved brick walls, the dampness making them glisten in the faint light filtering from the manhole cover far behind him. He strained his ears, picking out the drip, drip, drip of water from a leaking pipe, the skittering of some unknown thing in the darkness ahead. He continued unmolested. Ten minutes passed, and he could no longer see any hint of the light from outside. He continued for another ten minutes. His breathing was loud in his ears. The air was thick, heavy with the smell of rust and decay and something else, something metallic and vaguely sweet.

A scuffling sound echoed from a side tunnel up ahead. He froze, every muscle coiling tight as a spring. The Glock was steady in his hand, the tactical light cutting a clean white circle through the gloom, revealing a pile of refuse against the wall. But the scuffling continued, a frantic, scrabbling noise from behind the trash. He edged closer, the dirk held at the ready. Then, a small, furry animal burst from it. It hissed at him before immediately scurrying off into the darkness. It was just a raccoon, or perhaps a giant rat. He didn’t get a good enough look at it, and he was pretty sure he didn’t want one.

“Grahaabbaggaaa..” A voice sounded out.

At the end of the tunnel he was facing, he could see the orange glow of an approaching fire. Without a word, he dived into the refuge where the rat had emerged a short time earlier. It smelled rank and disgusting, but Tony didn’t care about that. He had turned off his tactical light and was now waiting as a group splashed their way along, arriving closer with every second. That’s when he heard a scream. It was the sound of a girl. Their approach stopped, and there was the brief sound of a scuffle, but when that ended, they started moving again. It was only another minute when they reached where Tony could see them.

It was a group of small, green creatures with long, torn ears and yellow teeth. They walked along in two groups of three, and between them was a long body stretched out. They were carrying the body, and it took Tony a moment to realize it was a girl tied up. She was struggling, but her mouth was stuffed with something, and her arms and legs were tied up with rope. She was completely helpless and at their mercy.

Tony had enough experience to know what would happen to her. They used to say that the only thing worse than dying in Ohio was being caught alive in Ohio. Different monsters had different goals. Some would eat you. However, perhaps one of the most unpleasant, especially during the early days, were goblins. They turned women into goblin broodmothers. It was a process far more horrible than most people ever realized. If it were just a matter of them being raped, it would already be horrible, but they were only the start. While that was going on, they were also forcibly fed any meat the goblins acquired, which was just as often as not human body parts. They’d be stuffed full in both sides, slowly growing into grotesque beasts. Mana mutated them into something that no longer resembled humans. They then became like a queen ant, consuming food for the goblin hoard while pushing out babies, which grew at an alarming speed.

That would be the fate of this girl. She’d likely become one of the first generations of broodmothers. Tony looked away as they carried her past. Thankfully, the end of the path was a T-section, and they were carrying her from the right to the left. They weren’t traveling past him, hidden in his refuge, so he did not need to act. As for saving her, he had no desire. In a few weeks, millions of people would be facing the same demise. How would saving on an extra person change anything?

Besides, he was confident fighting one against a goblin. There were eight there. Against that, he would be pretty much useless. He didn’t have the confidence that he could shoot them all. He only had fifteen rounds. It was better to find one goblin moving alone. Then again, what he had just seen startled him. That was eight goblins together, and they were already capturing women to turn into broodmothers. He hadn’t realized that they were so organized so early on. Was this different than his previous world? He didn’t know.

However, he did remember that the goblins ended up taking over this area. Part of why things had been so hard on Tony was that the tremoring had only just stopped when a sudden swarm of goblins emerged from underground. He had to abandon the place he was hiding and run, as did many others. Countless lives were lost during that great flight. The great Lebanon flight is what they had called it. He had run northeast into the Caesar Creek area, hoping to find peace by getting away from the cities. That was when he ultimately encountered Ember Lynn’s group again.

What if I kept the broodmother from being born?

A thought couldn’t help but sneak its way into his mind. As soon as he thought it, Tony couldn’t just leave it alone. With this second chance he was provided, Tony wanted to change his own fate. However, even if he was better off, wouldn’t Ohio still fall in about a decade? All of the settlements had fallen, and the world still ended. Even the Flame Princess ended up perishing in that final battle. Things had gone so bad that they had tried to send someone back to fix them, and that person ended up being Tony. Tony wasn’t a fool. He had picked up enough context clues to figure out this much. Tony was all that was sent, and if nothing changed, then things would still end up as they did in his original timeline.

The easiest time to course correct would be right now, at the beginning. Tony didn’t just need to grow stronger, but he needed to change the future, too. He understood the idea of the butterfly effect. The earlier he changed things, the more effect it would have. Of course, there was a chance he could make things worse, but he really couldn’t imagine how. The world had already ended for humans. It was more important that he start humanity on a new path.

“Damn it!” He cursed under his breath.

He had never wanted such a responsibility. The fire princess hadn’t even asked him to do it. All she had told him to do was meet her in Chillcothe in a year. Although it’d be a long journey, he believed he could make it. That meant that he could walk away from all of this. Once the awakening was over, he could leave this town and let it get taken over. He had no responsibility for any of it. So, why was he getting up out of the refuge? Why was he walking down the long tunnel? Why was she turning left and following the goblins? He cursed again, but his feet kept taking him.

The goblins made little attempt to hide their presence. This deep underground, everyone who heard them would either run the other way or be just as doomed as that woman. Tony walked behind, slowly following the group of goblins even deeper underground. He wanted to wipe them out at their nest. After all, goblins never had just one broodmother.

They traveled for about ten minutes when a greenish light began to illuminate the path ahead. Tony slowed down, keeping to the edges of the tunnel. The sounds of rough laughter and the girl’s muffled sobs grew louder. The passage widened into a large cavern, the ceiling lost in shadow. It appeared that the sewer lines had cracked open into an underground cavern. Perhaps this had been their home in the first place. The world of monsters and humans had been divided by a barrier that seemed paper-thin in retrospect. A crude fire pit burned in the center, casting flickering green light over the scene. Tony had seen these green fires before. It meant that a goblin shaman was casting it. He couldn’t help but curse. This was getting worse by the moment.

He watched as they placed the woman on a stone slab that was covered in a mess of dried and fresh blood. There were other women, too. Three of them were tied up in cages. They were each in varying states of transformation. One had greenish-tinted skin, her stomach swollen and distended in a horrifying parody of pregnancy. Another had blood all over her mouth, and she was staring ahead vacantly as if she had lost all reason. The third was twitching on the floor of her cage, her limbs contorting at unnatural angles. It looked like she had a seizure and died. Not every person survived the process.

How was he supposed to kill them all? There were too many goblins. He couldn’t just shoot them. He’d kill a handful, and they’d rip him apart. So, he needed an advantage. He scanned the cavern, his gaze settling on a series of wooden beams supporting a section of the ceiling directly above the broodmothers’ cages. They looked old, rotten. A plan, reckless and desperate, began to form in his mind.

He moved silently, hugging the wall, the Glock held loosely but ready in one hand, the dirk in the other. He reached the support pillars. The wood was damp and soft to the touch. He could probably chop through one with the dirk, but it would take too long and make too much noise. He needed fire. He looked over at the central fire pit where a green flame floated in the air. It wasn’t fueled by wood or oxygen, but by mana. His eyes scanned the goblins until he found the only one not wearing a loincloth. It was fully dressed and had its eyes focused on the flame. This had to be the shaman.

He had to take down the shaman first. Of the goblins present, it was the most difficult and was the greatest threat to him. If he had a Precision gift, he’d just point and kill the goblin with his perfect aim, but he wasn’t confident enough to make a killing shot. He needed help. That’s when his eyes fell on the form still struggling on the platform. Tied as she was, the goblins had lost interest in her for the moment. Rather, they only had three cages, and were in the process of removing the dead one to clear out a cage for her. They were hacking apart her limbs, likely to feed the body to the other two.

If Tony wanted any chance of accomplishing this, he needed someone with a combat skill. It was risky, but it was really the only option he could think of. Tony had to help them escape and then help them kill a goblin. Once they unlocked the system, they might have a shot. He had never been a gambling man, but for the first time, Tony realized he was going to have to roll the dice.