TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

As the sun began to rise, its gentle rays illuminated the exhausted expressions on the dirty faces of the Damascus and Robinson families.

Loo's voice broke through the peaceful morning air. "Let's go get the rest of the loot! Maybe I got something this time!"

The kids all jumped up from their resting spots.

Tom jumped to his feet too, holding back a pained grunt.. "Hold on, hold on! We need to make sure it's safe."

The adults and children took turns keeping watch as they re-walked the different areas they had fought through during the night. There was more loot hidden there than Tom had initially thought, and they quickly distributed it among themselves.

Three more Iron Ingots went to Tom, and he stowed them in his pockets.

Thank goodness.

He hesitated when he picked up a [Simple Bronze Flail: +XS.01 bonus to toughness] assigned to him.

This thing is way better than my bat. I don't want to absorb it!

A prompt appeared.

[Would you like to cancel absorption on this item?]

Relieved, Tom indicated yes.

"I got a Leather Tunic, Leggings, and a Staff which gives a bonus to my healing aura," Kate said. The Staff had a leather strap attached to it, and Kate was able to put her arms through, letting the Staff hang from her back. "These," she said, holding up the Leathers, "give an XS boost to defense, but only in bear form, so they're useless." She started to toss them down, but Tom stopped her.

"They will still help against claws and teeth. Please wear it. For me?" Tom pushed them back into her hands. "One less thing for me to worry about."

"I am not turning into a bear, Tom," Kate growled. She took the items anyway, sighed, and reluctantly started pulling them on.

Loo received a Cloth Gi Tunic and Gi leggings, which both gave an extra small boost to ability power. She slipped them on over her cold weather clothes; it looked like she was wearing a karate uniform. Loo's eyes were bright as she twisted her body around, inspecting her outfit. "I contributed!"

Tom smiled. "Yes you did. Loot drops don't lie."

Tess slipped a Simple Mail Tunic over her head.

"Nice, Tess!" Bo said. "Glad you got some armor. I got a Staff that raises bardic ability."

Bo paused, and frowned. He peered closely at the end of the Staff. The Wood had been carved to look like a microphone.

Chloe received a Simple Copper Chain necklace, which boosted her mental ability power, while Finn received a Simple Ring that increased his healing ability.

Hana pocketed more Coins, and was awarded with a Simple Wooden Staff that boosted her power.

Amber tried to hide her grin as she twirled a second Bronze Dagger in her hand.

Tom sighed.

A group of unfamiliar people crept out of the woods through a gap in the trees. One of them pointed to the campfires, and another sagged to the ground.

They must be new.

"All right everyone," Bo announced. "I'm going to walk around and check in with a few people. Maybe someone knows something. You kids want to stay by the fire and just chill?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The kids nodded.

"Tom, didn't you have some metal water bottles?"

Tom nodded and pointed to his backpack lying against a log.

"How about you kids fill up the bottles with snow, keep them close to the fire, and then rehydrate," said Bo. "Offer water to anyone else who might need a drink. We'll be back in a bit."

"Just . . . don't leave this area," Tom said.

"Avoid the red, brown, and yellow snow" said Kate.

"Duh," said Amber.

"Let's go check on Helen and the kids," said Tom.

Helen sat beside a campfire, her lined eyes never leaving the young ones around her. The three of them were quiet and reserved, the mud on their cheeks stained from where they had been crying. Tom handed out bites of beef jerky from their dwindling supply.

"You know," Helen whispered to the adults, "it's only getting colder, and we have no food. I'm old and I'm expendable, but if your families leave this place, you have to take these kids."

"Don't worry about that," Kate said. "If we go, we all go."

Tom patted her shoulder. "I'll bring back some more food in a bit."

Helen held Tom's arm. "I'm serious, young man. If something happens, you take these kids."

"I promise, if it comes to leaving, I will watch over these kids. And you."

"Helen, send the kids to our campfire if they are thirsty," said Bo. "You guys can borrow a bottle to melt snow"

Helen nodded and thanked them. One of the girls held onto her.

The chill of the morning air bit at Tom's nose and cheeks as they walked around, visiting neighboring bonfires, and checking in with the other people on the hill. His breath formed ghostly wisps that faded into the dawn sky. The smell of burned wood hung heavy in the air.

"Has anyone seen or heard of any help? Has anyone heard of what the police are doing?" Kate asked a group of survivors huddled together by one of the fires. They shook their heads while they stared at the frozen dirt.

"We don't know anything," one of them muttered bitterly.

Another person spoke up. "We lived off Rock Creek Road. It's about as close as you can get to the police station, and we couldn't find it."

Someone else spoke. "All the roads leading outside Raintree are gone. There is nothing but some deep ass dark woods. We followed the dirt paths inward, running for our lives most of the way. Ended up here."

"Damn," Bo muttered under his breath.

Pain lanced its way up and down Tom's back. "I'm going to head back to the kids."

Kate nodded.

"I'm going to check with a few more people, and ask them to share anything that can carry water," Bo said. "Hana, you wanna come with?"

Hana nodded. "We need to find a stream. I was thinking we could . . . " They walked off together.

Tom and Kate made their way back to their campfire. Tom laid on his back directly in the melting slush; the cold felt good on his sore muscles.

Kate chatted to the children, and relayed the limited information they had from their neighbors.

Bo and Hana eventually returned, and reported that Mike had fully recovered from his gore wound.

Hana and Kate surreptitiously handed out crackers from one of the bags, passing them around to the kids. The kids finished their meager meal too quickly, hunger and exhaustion etched onto their faces.

Tom grabbed some extra crackers and hurried over to Helen, hiding the snacks in his coat until he reached them. The tired and hungry faces dotted around the hillside filled him with unease.

Tom conferred with Bo when he returned, keeping his voice low. "Most people haven't eaten for a few days. I haven't seen any animals around, either."

"I don't know, Tom." Bo rubbed his face, his eyes bloodshot. "It's starting to look like help isn't coming anytime soon. I think we're on our own." He paused. "Want some good news though? That giant boar on the hill still hasn't disappeared. Its body is already started to freeze. If it stays, I say we eat it."

"There are a lot of hungry people. Maybe I should try to get some meat off it now?"

"Lets give it a little bit longer. I think we should make sure it doesn't disappear before we start putting future converted loot into our bodies. In the meantime, it might be a good time to test something out." Bo picked up the blueprint he had been carrying around since his house collapsed.

Tom examined the blueprint, which displayed plans for a [Simple Profession Booth]. As Bo studied the blueprint, its lines and colors faded and became transparent, until it completely disappeared from Bo's hand.

"Holy shit! Where did it go?" Tom said.

Bo tapped his temple. "Whole thing's in my head now. I can see it, just like the ability sheet."

Bo stood abruptly. "Hold my beer. I'm gonna try something."

He marched toward the edge of the woods.

The rest of their group all got up and followed him.

"Kids, stay back from the woods a bit and keep watch," Tom said.

They moved along the treeline, weapons held ready, expecting monsters to jump out at any moment.

Some of the other survivors watched from a distance, but stayed relatively safe on the hilltop.

Bo gathered logs and sticks into a pile. "The blueprint only mentions a certain amount of wood needed, without specifying anything about cut pieces or angles. It seems to be focused more on quantity."

Tom, Kate, and Hana helped gather more logs and sticks into a larger pile.

Bo, who had a long background in construction, moved his hands through the air as he analyzed the invisible blueprint.

The children kept watch on the treeline.

"According to this flashing section on the blueprint, we've piled enough required wood now," Bo told them. "Tom, can I use your bat?"

"Yeah. I have the Flail now, you can keep the bat."

Bo pounded one of the larger logs into the frozen ground with the butt of the bat. He then swung the bat to break some of the longer, thinner sticks into somewhat even sizes.

Bo spoke as he worked, hammering a second log into the cold earth. "I tried to share the blueprint with you guys, but it won't let me. Right now, I'm just trying to stack these logs to match what the blueprint says. There's something going on with my mana as well. As I'm using the blueprint, and as I stack these logs, my mana is slowly going down, but it's not something I'm doing consciously."

Bo hammered two more large logs into the ground, and then stacked the sticks, forming an extremely small 2x2 foot structure with three developing walls. Bo carefully added more sticks, slowly building up the height.

It was a haphazard and holey attempt, but it was vaguely starting to look like a structure. An outhouse, specifically.

After an hour of stacking, the three walls reached head height. Bo laid sticks across the top, completing the roof.

When Bo placed the last stick, he paused for a moment, his eyes unfocused. "Complete!"

The small structure began to shake and sink into the ground.

"Damn" Tom said. He walked a lap around the shack, and returned to the entrance.

Hana inspected the hut's unstable rear wall.

"Fuck," Bo muttered. He stepped inside, and disappeared.

"Bo?!" Tom called out.

Hana rushed around to the entrance. "Where did he go?" Her voice was an octave higher than normal.

A moment later, there was a silvery flash, and Bo popped out of the front of the Booth.

Hana gasped, and Tom jumped back.

"Holy shit! Are you all right?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. How long was I in there?"

"A few seconds. What do you mean?" Tom's brain tripped over the weird question.

"Wait until you see inside!"