TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

The horrific visions dissolved like smoke in the wind.

Tess blinked hard, her mind finally able to separate what was real from the terror and deep shame that had once again overwhelmed her. The Town Hall came back into focus. Her hands shook as she gripped the edge of the wooden chair beneath her.

"Get away from me! Get back!" Blake screamed across the assembly. He stood near the center aisle—wild-eyed and cornered—his hands raised as if to ward off invisible attackers. "Get the fuck BACK!"

An older gray-haired White man—one of the [Builders]—had gotten too close trying to calm Blake, and Blake swung at him with a closed fist. The crack of knuckles against jaw echoed through the Hall. The [Builder] stumbled backward into the arms of his neighbors. The crowd recoiled.

"He's been casting spells on us!" Chloe's voice came out thin and strained. She raised a trembling finger to point at Blake.

That was when Tess saw the blood. It ran from Chloe's nose in a dark stream. Worse, a crimson trail leaked from her left ear.

Kate's shout cut through everything else. "Chloe! Are you all right!?"

The words had barely left her mouth when Chloe's eyes rolled back. Her body went limp. Kate lunged forward, catching her daughter before she could hit the floor.

"I cast those spells for your own good!" Blake screeched. "You're all too fucking stupid to realize we should have left on day one!"

"You son of a bitch!" Kate screamed. The words ended in a roar that didn't come from a human throat.

A huge black bear reared up on its hind legs beside Chloe's unconscious form. Its deep and angry roar shook the stick walls.

Townsfolk screamed and pushed themselves to the walls of the room: as far away from both Kate and Blake as they could get.

Blake's face went white. He spun in place, looking for the exit, or for any gap in the fence of bodies surrounding him. A high-pitched scream tore from his throat as he stumbled forward, shoving people aside in his desperation to escape. He used his elbows and shoulders to force a path to the door, shrieking the entire time.

Several of the group that had been following Blake around for weeks looked between the enraged bear and their fleeing leader. They bolted after him, leaving overturned chairs behind them.

Kate the Bear dropped to all fours, still roaring as she took several swift and heavy steps toward the door. Her muscles were bunched, ready to give chase.

She stopped.

The people who had not been able to flee the Hall had flattened themselves against the walls and floor. Their petrified eyes watched Kate the Bear, though she wasn't paying them any mind.

The Bear looked back at Chloe's still form on the floor. Her head swung between the door and the girl once. Twice.

On the third look, maternal instinct won.

Finn was already next to Chloe casting his healing spells. He moved over as Kate the Bear lowered her massive frame beside Chloe, and laid her head next to her unconscious daughter. She gave a long, wet lick to the back of her furry paw, then wiped it across Chloe's nose and ear with care. A low, continuous growl rumbled from her chest as she watched the exit.

The Hall erupted. People shouted over each other: Bridget called for order; some demanded answers; and a few suggested they follow Blake and drag him back. The noise built on itself, until Tess could not recognize a single individual voice.

"ENOUGH!" Bo's voice—amplified by his [Volume] ability and years of yelling on construction sites—cut through the room. "Everyone, sit down and shut up!"

It took a few more shouts, and some mild physical wrangling by the stronger townsfolk, but eventually the crowd settled into an uneasy quiet.

Bo stood at the front of the Hall, his face flushed. He caught Bridget's eye and nodded toward the door.

She understood immediately: she grabbed Tom's arm, and then Amber's. "You two, with me. In case there's trouble." She scanned the crowd and pointed at several others: Art, Sophia, and a few of the [Builders].

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Amber said "I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Tom glanced at his wife and daughter, nodded once, and said "Yeah you are," before setting his jaw and following Bridget outside.

Tess watched them go. Blake's spell might have faded, but her own memories had been stirred up and were crystal-clear. Sam being pulverized by the Troll's club was the most vivid, but there were so many others.

She had made it her job to protect these people, and so many of them were dead. Magical visions or not, she had heard them blaming her in the crowd. And they were right.

I'm done.

Bo kept the crowd calm through sheer force of will while they waited. He answered questions when he could, but mostly just told people to sit down and be patient while they waited on news of Blake.

Kate the Bear never stopped growling.

Chloe stirred about twenty minutes in. Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first. Kate the Bear nuzzled her with a wet nose, making soft huffing sounds. Chloe's hand came up to weakly pat the massive head.

Another fifteen minutes passed before the search party returned. Kate had shifted back to her human form, and Chloe was at least back to sitting in her chair.

Tom shook his head before anyone could ask. "Blake, that Stan guy, and the others with him are all gone. Art and Sophia found their trail headed into the woods on the south side of camp."

Sophia stepped forward. "Looks like they had supplies packed and ready for something like this. We checked the storage Shacks. They stole some of your [Crappy] backpacks, a bunch of tools, the new alchemy jugs and stuff the [Potters] had been working on . . . and a large portion of our meat."

Bridget shook her head. "I can't believe he would do this."

I can.

Art shook his head, shoulders slumping. "We would have kept going after them, but 'poof' the trail vanished. I bet they have some spell to hide or cover their tracks or something."

"Fuck 'em," Bo said. "They can go find whatever 'help' is out there. I say good riddance. We have bigger problems to worry about."

Tess bit her tongue. Leaving a hostile magic user free to roam the wilderness seemed like asking for trouble, but it wasn't her call anymore. It was better for someone else make the decisions.

The [Volume] spell icon shimmered to life above her dad as he prepared to address the full crowd again. Outside, she could hear the [Bards] preparing to relay his words.

"To hell with those guys." Bo said as he shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other. "We need to return to the issue at hand, but uh…first let me please lead off with this. We suffered a hard loss last night and this certainly didn't help." He paused, and swallowed. "There are a lot of people hurting today, and I didn't give you all the time you needed. I acted like an ass this morning." His face reddened, and his eyes dropped to the floor. "I apologize. Especially to those of you I yelled at. I was way out of line, and I'm sorry for how I acted."

Hana stood next to Bo and laid her hand on his back as he spoke.

Bo scratched at his beard. "In fact, I apologize to everyone I have yelled at over the last few weeks. I just, uh . . . " Another pause. "Listen, it's no secret I have a temper, but I'm yelling because I care about us. This community. My neighbors. When I get scared, I get mad, and I have a loud bark."

A few people in the crowd actually laughed: small, tired sounds, but genuine.

"If I didn't care about the people of this community, you wouldn't hear a peep from me. I'm just bad at showing it, I guess." Bo's shoulders relaxed slightly as he found his rhythm. "Anyway, I hope you accept my apology. For what it's worth."

Bo cleared his throat. "Onto to our first important question tonight. Do we still believe in Raintree and Foundation? Do we want to stay and fight, or pack up and leave? Either way, I think we should move forward as a community. Together."

A young East Asian man stepped away from the wall. "Hey, look, I've had nothing to do with that piece of shit Blake, and I'm no coward, but do we really want to risk our lives to defend some huts we built out of sticks? Seriously, why don't we just leave?"

Heather stood in the middle of the room. "If we leave, we lose the [Profession Shack] and shelter, but we also lose consistent food. If we're on the run, I know for a fact we [Cooks] will never be able to keep up."

"Who's going to need food if we're all dead?" the young man replied.

"What's the point of abandoning Foundation, just to freeze or starve to death in the woods?" Heather fired back.

The conversation began to get heated as several more people joined in.

Tess's Mom—who was still standing beside Bo—straightened and stepped onto the podium. "Everyone, calm down please. Lets keep this civil. I'm going vote to stay, as scary as that sounds. I know the monsters headed this way will be a tough challenge. But the people who are out there, running . . . they are on their last legs. If we choose to run, we abandon them. In any case, I think we'd end up just like them in a few weeks' time."

Tom stood. "I also vote to stay. There is nowhere else to go. This is the safest place to be. We'll all be stronger together."

"Same," Kate said, her human voice strained after the Bear's growls. She stood, and Chloe leaned heavily against her.

The rest of the Damascus family rose as one. Then the Robinson family.

They all looked at Tess.

She was the last to stand. Her legs were like water, but she forced them to hold her weight. One deep breath. Then another. The words came out steadier than she felt.

"I also vote to stay. However, I do not believe I should be in charge of our defensive preparations anymore."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

A White woman stood and shoved her way past her seated neighbors. She stood before Tess and the other Lords and Ladies.

Tess recognized her immediately. The woman from the memorial site. The one who had been clutching a child's pink jacket. She still held it now, her knuckles rubbed raw against the fabric.

"I vote to stay," the woman said, her voice carrying despite its quietness.

She looked directly at Tess. "And as for you . . . "

Here it comes . . . not that I don't deserve it.

"I am sorry."

Tess blinked.

The woman continued, each word deliberate. "You approached me several times to train, and I didn't do it. My daughter trained with you. She saved her little sister when I couldn't. I lost her last night. She was a hero."

Her voice cracked but didn't break. "I am ashamed I didn't train. That I wasn't stronger to save my baby. I should have . . . we all should have listened to you, Tess. I vote to stay, and if you will have me, I volunteer to train and fight."

She held up the pink jacket, and her voice grew fierce. "I will last till the end, and bring my baby back."

The Hall went silent for a heartbeat.

Then the dam broke.

"I vote to stay!"

"I'll train!"

"Sign me up!"

"I'm in!"

The shouts came from everywhere at once. People stood, their hands raised, their voices overlapping. Word spread outside through the [Bards], and soon Tess could hear her name being chanted, mixed with: "Raintree! Raintree!"

Her Dad's hand landed on her shoulder, warm and solid. The gesture nearly undid her. This wasn't blame. This was support. Belief. Trust.

Her smiling mother appeared at her other side, arms wrapping around her in a fierce hug. Bo pulled Finn into their family embrace.

Tess looked over at the Damascus family. They'd formed their own knot, with Tom's arms encircling his family, protective and proud. He caught her eye and nodded.

The weight on Tess's chest didn't disappear. But it shifted, and became something she could share with the community, rather than trying to carry it alone. The tears came then. Not the bitter tears of failure, or the angry tears of frustration that she had shed all day. These tears cleansed her, and left her with hope.

"We can do this," said Tom. "Let's hit the gas."