TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

Chloe groaned at the Shack door's incessant knocking.

She sat at the edge of the bed, sweat beading on her forehead as she grimaced. Her body was on the bed, but her consciousness was in her [Mental Bastion]. Chloe focused on one particularly nasty fear that clung to her neighbor. She mentally reached out and yanked it off the man.

Each time she did that, the creature would charge her and get several hits against her room's exterior walls before she could kill it. The creatures' hits caused her real physical pain; they also drained her mana, as she had to repair her mental walls.

It was worth it, though, to help the community: even if they didn't know she was doing it.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Chloe gritted her teeth and looked out of her [Mental Bastion] at the sea of new 'fear' monsters running through the community.

That morning, Chloe had stepped out for a quick meeting with Bridget over breakfast.

The citizens' fears assaulted her, bombarding her with flashes of mangled bodies and panicked screams from the previous night's awful battle. The grieving ones were the worst; raw anguish stabbed at Chloe's mind, forcing horrific scenes to replay behind her eyelids. Now that she had trained her mind to reach out and feel fear, she couldn't exactly turn it off.

By the time her meeting with Bridget was over, she was on the verge of a public freak-out. She had fled to the isolation of the Shack.

The knocking persisted.

"Ugh, fine!"

She dismissed her [Mental Bastion] spell and stomped to the door. She wrenched it open.

A small White girl stood there with eyes wide as saucers. Fear radiated off the child in sickening waves that made Chloe's stomach turn. She caught a flash of the girl's fear; an image of Chloe as a wicked witch, snatching her up with clawed hands to drag her inside the Shack.

"Uh . . . L-Lady Chloe?" The girl's voice quaked.

"Yeah, I am," Chloe said with a sigh.

Amber had told Chloe how her reputation had morphed from merely 'weird' to outright 'terrifying' as more people saw the devastating effects of her spells.

Amber was proud of her.

Chloe hated it.

When a Headless was roasted alive by a fireball, or when its guts spilled everywhere from an axe, the settlers cheered. But when the creatures squealed in horror, and frantically clawed at their chests while their hearts seized from sheer fright? Well, that seemed to cross some line.

"Lady Bridget asked me to let you know the final death toll for last night." The girl's gaze was fixed on her shoes. Her head bobbed as she worked through the memorized message. "It's fifty-three. There are no more critical patients. Half the Shacks were damaged or destroyed. Bridget would like to discuss the losses later."

"Arg, but I just had a meeting with Bridget! Ugh, all right. Thank you . . . " Chloe racked her brain for a name; she knew she had met this kid. "Piper, isn't it?"

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The girl nodded mutely.

Chloe fished out a Copper Coin, and held it out with what she hoped was a kind smile. "Here. Good work on delivering the message."

Piper stared at the offering, desire and dread warring on her small features. After a long moment, she snatched the Coin, and scurried back several steps.

"T-Thank you, Lady Chloe!" Piper blurted, before whirling around and bolting down the path at top speed.

Chloe watched her go, a sharp ache in her chest. She slumped against the doorframe as hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

This is even worse than high school. Now I wish I was just the weird girl!

Chloe retreated back inside and slammed the door shut. She paced the small confines of the Shack while she tried to clear her mind.

As had become her routine when she was upset, she slipped back into her [Mental Bastion] spell. She took deep breaths as her fears and anxieties were forced from her mind and pushed outside of her room's walls. A fear—manifesting as the little girl—thrashed and pounded at her room. Chloe mentally seized the creature and tore it apart. She was getting pretty good at that now.

Like shredding newspaper.

Looking further into the darkness, she spotted the golden silhouette of the real girl clutching her Coin tightly as she hurried away. The poor orphan kid was surrounded by fears: starvation; monsters; and—strongest of all—terror that the new adults in her life would abandon her.

Oh, and also . . . she was scared to death of Chloe.

All of the fears piled onto the girl's small frame. It was a wonder she could still move under their weight.

Chloe extended her mental reach further than ever before. Rather than just pulling the fears off the girl, she viciously attacked them: mentally tearing them apart. She was even able to destroy some of them before they could approach her walls.

Chloe felt a nosebleed in her real body as her walls continued to sustain damage. She redirected her focus to destroy those creatures as well.

With the golden silhouette now free from fear, the girl turned toward Chloe's Shack. She smiled, and tossed the Coin into the air. She caught it, then skipped away: instead of scurrying like a frightened mouse.

Finally, something positive had emerged from her class!

Looking out of the window of her [Mental Bastion], Chloe gazed at the hazy silhouettes of the community: all frightened and hurting.

The dulled silhouette of her mother came into view, her fears swarming around her like a dark mist. Chloe saw the dread Kate carried: worries for her husband; the constant threat of the Bear taking over; the struggles with her farming; and—above all—the gnawing fear for her daughters' safety.

Chloe blinked, and found herself back in her own body, still perched on the bed in their family's [Crappy Shack].

The door flew open as Kate barged in, her breaths coming fast and shallow as she paced the small room.

Chloe surreptitiously wiped the blood from her nose.

It took a moment for Kate to notice Chloe's quiet presence.

Kate jumped. "Oh, sorry honey. I didn't see you there." She resumed her pacing.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just . . . frustrated." Kate sighed. "I was with the other [Farmers] this morning, and we couldn't get any of the seed sprouts to stay alive. We could really use the extra food." Her shoulders slumped.

Chloe hesitated. "Mom, I . . . think I can help. Like, with the stress and being scared and stuff." She took a deep breath. "I haven't really talked about it with anyone yet, but I can use my class abilities to help remove people's fears and worries. I can see you're worried about Dad, and the Bear, and us, and . . . well . . . "

Kate stared at her. "It's almost overwhelming. I worry about so much, which makes me stress about the Bear being able to . . . wait, you can tell all that?"

Chloe nodded. "I kind of can't turn it off."

Her mother looked at her closely. "And how are you handling that? It sounds like a lot to deal with. Never mind me. Are you all right, sweetheart?" She reached up to wipe away a trickle of blood from Chloe's nose.

A small smile tugged at Chloe's lips. Her Mom's first concern was always for her kids.

"Yeah, I'm learning to control it. It's getting easier. Can I try to help you now?"

Kate nodded slowly. "As long as it doesn't hurt you."

Chloe guided Kate to sit cross-legged on the floor with them facing each other.

Chloe closed her eyes and dove into her mental sanctuary.

Seconds later, she could see the dark, wispy fears clinging to her mother. Like before, Chloe tore through them like tissue paper, shredding them to nothing. However, this time she had to take longer breaks to repair her room's walls.

Chloe opened her eyes. She quickly wiped away the trickle of blood threatening to leave her nostril.

Kate opened her eyes and let out a long, slow breath. "Thank you, Chloe. That's the best I've felt in a long time." She smiled. "The Bear finally went back to sleep."

They sat together a while longer, talking and reconnecting as mother and daughter in a way they hadn't been able to in weeks.

Finally, Kate patted Chloe's knee. She stood. "Okay, well, back to the fields to try again. With a clearer head this time. Make sure you don't overdo it with, well, whatever this is."

She bent to hug Chloe tightly before heading out of the door.

As it closed behind her, Chloe reflected on the warmth spreading through her chest. A large grin broke over her face. She felt good. Really good. Better than she had in months. Maybe years. The gnawing dread that usually lived in the pit of her stomach was quiet, for once. Her shoulders—normally hunched from the weight of her anxiety and self-doubt—straightened. She was alive. Energized. Ready to help.

Buzzing with her newfound purpose and confidence, Chloe decided to brave the outside.

Just as she was tying the laces on her boots, a sudden shockwave rocked through her psyche, stealing the breath from her lungs.

Fear. Overwhelming, paralyzing terror, crashing over her mind in a tidal wave of icy dread.

It took her a moment to realize the emotion wasn't her own.

Heart pounding, Chloe pushed to her feet and staggered to the door, pulling her robes tight around her thin frame. She stepped out into the weak late morning sunlight, barely feeling the bite of the wind on her cheeks as she cast her senses outward, seeking the source of the massive spike of fear. It called to her, tugging at her mind like a fishhook embedded in her brain.

Chloe stumbled forward as if in a trance, her own worries forgotten in the face of this new and urgent empathic summons. Someone out there was in trouble: drowning in a level of sheer panic Chloe had never felt from anyone but herself.

And now, she could help.