TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

Kate's eyes locked with Tom's. "Earthquake." Her voice cut through the growing screams and confusion, a shared memory igniting between them.

As quickly as it had started, the trembling ceased, leaving behind an eerie stillness. From the woods, a mighty pig roar shattered the quiet. It was picked up by dozens more.

A signal as clear as any battle cry they had come to dread.

"Monsters! Incoming!" Bo yelled as he tore across the clearing.

Frightened people ran up the hill, away from the shacks and [Lumber Zone].

"Up the hill! Now!" Kate's command was a thunderbolt, galvanizing the stunned kids into movement. She and Tom ushered them upward.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Keep moving!" Bo barked.

"Form up here, where the hill is steepest!" Tess called out.

A green arrow materialized on the ground before Kate, and she took her place on the right side of the group.

Most of the neighborhood were gathering at the hill's peak, and Kate followed the younger children's ascent to safety.

Tess's hands wove patterns in the air as she orchestrated their defense.

Tom dug his feet into the soft ground at the front of their formation. Liquid metal poured from his skin and solidified into plates of Iron armor that soon encased him.

Amber crouched behind Tom, a giant smile on her face. Her body was coiled; ready to spring into whatever reckless heroics the moment demanded.

"We'll be all right," Kate whispered to herself.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Loo stood beside Tess, her eyes closed. Hana and Chloe flanked her

Finn was hunched in the rear.

Mike, Jill, Terry, Jack, and other fighters showed up. Helen directed her children uphill, then took a stance by Jill.

"Group two!" Tess commanded. "Form up like we are, tank in front. Mike, focus on someone and think 'invite to party'."

More snarls and roars cut through the woods. They were getting closer.

"We figured it out in training, you can invite up to ten people. Hurry!"

A few moments passed.

"Got all ten in my party," Mike announced.

"Your buffs and abilities should synergize and be stronger now."

Bo turned to Tess. "Then why aren't we in a party?"

"We have been for some reason. You should have party options if you look for them."

Brad came running down the incline with a large log in his hand.

"I can help! It's about to get weird, Bo!"

A prompt appeared in Kate's vision.

[Brad has joined your party.]

The first Headless shuffled into view. It sniffed the air, and pointed up the hill with a loud squeal.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A prompt flared in Kate's vision.

[The beast within stirs. Would you like to transform?]

She mentally clicked no, and the prompt disappeared.

The creature that had emerged was only a [Level 1 Pygmy], but Kate's eyes widened as dozens more poured out from between the tree trunks. Around a hundred creatures were visible, and the shadows and creaking of wood behind them told of many more joining their ranks. The creatures clotted into a seething, snorting, growling mass at the base of the hill.

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A child cried somewhere behind Kate.

The monsters' stink wafted up the hill. The odor triggered a primal response in Kate; she growled, and planted her feet in the earth.

Larger Marauders and Boar Riders gathered in the back. They screeched and lashed out at the smaller Pygmies, pushing them forward.

They charged.

The ground shuddered under the onslaught of clawed feet and guttural howls.

Kate reached around her back and retrieved her Wooden Staff from its leather strap. She flexed her fingers around it, the grain rough against her palm. Her heart hammered in her chest, in rhythm with the approaching horde.

Helen took slow, deliberate steps forward and placed herself between Tom and Mike. She raised her hands. Small, electrical arcs danced across her irises and crackled along her fingertips.

Helen's lightning struck the first four Headless. They squealed and fell, spasming, into the snow. The Headless behind them tripped over their fallen companions.

More Headless struggled up the steep and slippery slope, barely making any progress. When they finally reached the line of defenders, it was a pitiful and feeble charge. Tess had chosen a fantastic battle ground.

The Damascus and Robinson party destroyed a dozen Headless in moments. However, despite their weak charge, there were too many monsters to handle.

An arrow directed Kate to a new position, but she kept getting blocked by Pygmies that had made it past Tom. She grunted, and crushed a Pygmy in her path with [Feral Slam].

On Kate's left, Bo was locked in a hand-to-hand struggle with a Pygmy.

Amber danced through the Pygmies, slashing and cutting.

"There are too many!" Tess yelled in alarm. "Kill what you can!"

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Amber dodged two clawed Pygmy attacks.

"Mana!" Loo yelled and flowed into the Tree pose. Blue light swirled around her.

Kate growled as another Pygmy jumped in her way. She used [Feral Slam] again, and followed up with her Staff; she beat the creature until it folded and crashed to the dirt.

She couldn't see Tom anymore; just a writhing mass of biting Pygmies.

"I'm fine!" a voice called from the bottom of the pile.

Kate bashed her way toward him.

A wave of course and angry mana grated across Kate's skin. Jill was screaming at the monsters, her words slicing the air. "Go find your own hill, you little dickless motherfu—"

The Headless in front of her flinched away from her words. A debuff appeared over their heads.

[Emotional Trauma: XS.03 debuff to motivation.]

Jill had told Kate she was a Bard; was Harassment her specialization?

A Pygmy slipped past their defensive line and charged at Hana. Kate jumped left and grabbed its arm. The creature's mouths squealed in unison as Kate whipped it around to face her and planted a massive forward kick into its torso. It fell back into the dirt, and Kate stomped on it until it stopped moving.

Hana nodded at Kate. The Goblin arm she had been using was on the ground—replaced by a Pygmy bone arm which pulsed green and yellow. Hana reached high into the air, then pointed her bone hand—palm open—at the Pygmies piled on Tom. She clenched the hand shut.

A Pygmy on Tom's back squealed and the icon [Malnutrition] flashed above its head. The creature screamed and wilted, and fell backward off the pile.

Chloe added her spells to the mix, and all the Pygmies staggered away from Tom. Their flesh shriveled. They clawed at their shrinking torsos. They screamed.

The Level 1 and 2 Headless fell in droves. Killing them had become almost . . . easy. Kate found herself almost agreeing with Amber's sentiment of leveling.

Loo shifted into another pose; silver specks chased her blue lights, and they swirled around Kate and the others. Shining icons indicated boosts to Kate's ability power and mana regeneration.

The remaining Headless creatures regrouped and altered course. They swarmed around the fighters and up the hill, toward the Level 1 people beyond. The two fighter groups moved to intercept them.

Brad and Bo leaped at a Pygmy charging straight toward Helen. Bo jumped on its back and knocked it to the ground.

"Sing!" Bo yelled at Brad. "We need more buffs!"

Brad's mouth went slack. He closed his mouth, gulped, and nodded. He snapped his fingers and began beatboxing. He pointed into the air, and the beat continued on its own. Brad launched into his shaky rap.

A prompt flashed above him.

[Lose Yourself by Eminem.]

Brad's voice grew more confident, reminding them of their one opportunity to kill Headless. One hand was by his mouth imitating a microphone, and the other hand waved in the air, pumping with the lyrics.

Kate checked her buff.

[Lose yourself: XS.03 damage bonus when near three or more enemies.]"

The battle raged on. The fighters fiercely defended their position and fought to close any gaps in their line. The Headless swarmed around them, searching for any dent or weakness they could break through.

Individual Pygmies began to find ways past them.

The people on the hilltop screamed and scattered, and the Headless chased and hunted them in the growing darkness. Claws and teeth found flesh and bone.

Kate dispatched another Pygmy. Fireballs and lightning strikes tore over her head and drilled into three Pygmies heading her way.

Four Boar Riders left the clearing and charged up the hill.

Tom was lost to sight within another mass of relentless Pygmies and Marauders.

Brad's rap continued. The waves of music beat into Kate.

Thump. Thump. Thump

A prompt flared into life.

[The beast within stirs. Would you like to transform?]

No, God dammit!

Kate used [Feral Slam] and crashed blindly into a Boar Rider. She shattered one of the pig's tusks; it cried out but didn't slow down.

The Boar Riders plowed through the people on the hill, knocking them over like bowling pins. They trampled and impaled anyone in their path, while the monsters on their backs clawed at fleeing victims.

Kate wanted to help them, but she was surrounded. It was all she could do to stop the Pygmies killing her own family. She fought her way through to Tom and shared her [Regeneration Aura] with him.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

An angry roar built in Kate's chest. She was lost in a red haze. She dismissed the [Mother Bear] prompt over and over.

Stillness. Kate blinked. There were no living Headless within her red-filtered sight. Just heaps of dead ones; shadowy lumps in the deepening night.

Finn dashed over and healed Tom.

Hooves thundered far away, but it sounded like others were dealing with them.

Kate spun around, checking the locations of her daughters. They were dirty and scratched, but all three were on their feet.

Kate let out a long slow breath.

Everyone's okay. Thank—

A Boar with a broken tusk crested the hill behind them. Its Rider snatched Loo's arm, and a loud popping noise brought a strangled cry to the back of Kate's throat. The Boar Rider charged down the hill and toward the trees, dragging Loo alongside it. Loo thrashed, and screamed for her mother.

"Looo!" Kate tore after them.

Tom moved to follow, but his heavy armor weighed him down.

Panic gave speed to Kate's legs. [Tachycardia] and [Malnutrition] spells appeared above the Rider's head, but it careened into the woods. Loo's screams pushed Kate even harder, and her [Maternal Instincts] buff kicked into overdrive. She crashed into the undergrowth, not noticing the thorns and branches carving her skin.

She was too slow.

"MOM!"

"LOOO!" Desperate tears spilled from Kate's eyes.

It's heading for the Dungeon!

The Boar Rider was disappearing, and with it her youngest child.

"MOM!"

Loo's screams were fainter. Kate could barely see them crashing through the trees ahead of her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her heartbeat grew into an internal earth-shattering roar.

"MOM!"

The prompt blazed in front of Kate. She didn't hesitate.

A powerful energy surged through her, coursing through every fiber in her body. Nature itself responded to her call, transforming her into a raw and wild force. Her once-human features stretched and contorted. Her snout lengthened, her muscles bulged, and her senses sharpened.

Cub!

The world blurred as rage-fueled instinct took over. She let out a ferocious roar as she powered through the bushes and trees, flattening the smaller ones.

The Rider squealed.

Smell fear.

Kate the Bear reached her cub just as the Boar Rider dragged her into a cave. She used [Roar of Intimidation] and launched herself at the thing on the pig's back, knocking it onto the ground. She bit and clawed at it, and shook it with her powerful neck. The pig shrieked and ran in frenzied circles. Kate the Bear slammed into its side and sunk her teeth into its throat. It squirmed in her jaws, and went still. Blood filled Kate the Bear's mouth.

Kate the Bear stood on her hind legs and roared her victory.

Shouting and clanging filled the cave. Humans barged in through the entrance, dangerously close to where her cub cowered against the wall. Her protective instincts kicked in anew and she roared again, baring her teeth at the largest figure—a man wearing metal armor.