Chapter 9: The Resolve
I feel hope rising in me, maybe it was not global, or maybe governments are fighting back ... I turn on my computer and connect to the search engine ...
"- It works ! Well now let's see the news sites ..."
I type the name of several news sites and what I see ... makes me lose the little hope that I had just regain.
I go down to the livingroom without my weapons, everyone is gathered there and are already eating. I take a chair and sit down and start too. My mother then asks me:
"- What is it Lukas ? You do not look well..."
I must surely have a gloomy look for my mother to worry about me despite the situation. I sigh and begin to explain:
"- Have you been on the internet or have you turned on the news since the beginning of this mess?
- No, we cut all the lights to avoid attract the monsters and we mostly hid ... why ?" Replied my grandfather.
"- Because I did it when I stepped out of my shower. Internet works well. And I saw the world situation ..."
I stop, remembering what I saw. My eyes seems to lost focus and my grandfather had to shake me to make me come back.
"- Well ! Start talking!"
I sigh while looking into his eyes, I see my reflection and my own eyes ... it's dark and depressed ...
"- Well it's not good. The situation is global".
I see a twitch in my grandfather's eye but he does not say anything. My mother puts her hand in front of her mouth and makes a depressed face. My sister looks at her plate without touching it.
"- Governments are overwhelmed, monsters and creatures have popped up all at once, not sparing anyone. The whole world was caught off guard, the armies were deployed but they were ineffective in front of magic or powerful monsters ... I saw giants, dragons, cursed species of wizards raising armies of dead ... the world like we have known it is finished. There are [dungeons] everywhere with crazy conditions, the city of Beijing is apparently floating in the sky with a hole of unknown depth below, and closer to us Paris is invaded by zombie and monsters in relation to death ... it became [The capital of the dead], a big dungeon with inside it a myriad of other dungeons ... I think I can say that ... in a few hours there will be no more people than we know alive in this city.
I see tears falling on the cheeks of my mother and sister. My grandfather also seems to have trouble digesting information. That's understandable: his son, my uncle, and his family live in Paris. I myself studied, worked and lived there for many years. We all have friends there whose fate is probably sealed. But the hardest for my mother is surely the fact that his eldest daughter, my beloved sister, is there too.
"- You ... did you tried to call them ?" I say, hoping that it might help them.
"- We tried to call you, but the phone lines are overloaded," my grandfather replied, shaking his head.
"- I could not have answered anyway, my phone was dead when I came back to me".
Then it's the silence. Everyone is too shocked to be able to continue talking, the only noise being my mother and sister sobbing...
I am the first to come out of this depressive torpor: I slap my cheeks loudly, making everyone jump.
"- All right ! I survived death a bunch of times that night I think, it's not to get depressed right now ! I am alive and I intend to remain so. And I also intend to make you survive by all means. For this we must act, the electrical facilities and water, internet etc ... we do not know how long it will last, so we need water and food. The backup generator behind the house is running on gasoline, so we need some too. I'm the only one of us with high skills, titles and stats, so I'll take care of it. We must also know what are the immediate dangers in the area. I already know that our village as well as those in the area are all attacked by orcs but it is possible, no it is even sure there are other monsters. In the forest I crossed an extremely dangerous area but it is several kilometers from here, I must know if the forest behind the house is as dangerous or not and if there are other areas of this kind closed by. I'll be pretty busy, and I will not be able to do everything. So I ask you: are you ready? Will you follow me or not?
My statement is greeted by the still surprised eyes of my family. Suddenly my grandfather bursts out laughing:
"- I lived my life kid, I'm old and I did everything I had to do and even today I saw the blood of our Family being reborn from the ashes through you, making you the Heir of the Family. But now I have a new goal: to see this Family comes out alive with you at its head. And for that you have to stay alive, so count on me to take care of it. You have all the support I can give you".
He looks at me with a new flame in his eyes. If the news concerning Paris and my uncle made him grow old for several years, he seems ready to rejuvenate now.
My sister gets up and looks at me with the same intensity:
"- I do not want to lose you and grandfather, I want things to return as they were before! I want to help too !"
I approach her and stroked her head, feeling her soft brown hair under my fingers.
"- And you mom ?"
My mother looks at me with eyes filled with sadness, then sighs and says with closed eyes:
"- A good mother should never allow her children to be exposed to risks ..."
Then she opens her eyes and puts a soft hand, full of tenderness on my cheek.
"- You have always been a strange child, preferring to cultivate your hobbies rather than socializing, and suddenly you have developed a tendency to do everything by yourself, all alone. That's why I'm happy now. You are asking for help from your family, from me ... Finally ...You have grown up to become a magnificent young man gifted in all fields other than human relations and I confess that I regretted this a little because I was afraid you'd end up alone. But today it has allowed you to survive, and if anyone can go through it all, it's you. Obviously I'm going to help you my lovely son, but I ask you one thing in return, protect your sister and always come back alive to your family, to us.
- Mom..."
Tears run down my cheeks. I wipe them quickly and hug her. My sister takes us both too and my grandfather puts his hand on my shoulder with a smile. My resolve is strengthen, I'm ready now.
(I will survive, I will make them survive)
After this emotionally charged scene, it was decided what to do next: first I made them aware of everything I learned about the RPG "system" of our new life, I taught them to open their status, explained to them what are the Hp and the mana as well as the stats. If they want to survive they have to level up and for that ... they have to eliminate monsters or other players. Unless there is a different way but so far I do not know another one. After explaining everything we agreed to rest a little, the night was tiring after all, not forgetting to setting up a night's watch. My kobold, my mother, my grandfather and I will be the ones who will do it, my sister protested but I want her to be refreshed after all the events. Two by two we will watch the house for two hours before leaving our place to the next group. It was decided the groups will be like this: Inyasha and I, Inuyama and my grandfather, Inukami and my mother. My grandfather and her are not comfortable with the idea of teaming up with a kobold but as everyone would watch one side of the house they agreed, especially since they did not want to leave two kobold at the same time on a guard tour. They do not trust them yet despite my certification of their good intentions.
After a six hours rest, I will go to the village with one of the two kobolds and my mother and we will go to the small supermarket while cleaning the village of potential enemies. My mother will drive one of our car slowly (we have three, one is mine, one is my grandfather's and the last one is my mother's) while the kobold and I will be ahead to eliminate the dangers. We will do several trips to build up a sufficient stock of water and food. After the food we will have to deal with the gasoline, having the chance to own a powerful generator that my grandfather had installed to keep the temperature and humidity of the Library to a certain level even in case of power failure. His obsession with this library will surely help us, in addition to having probably made me what I am now. Then I would go for a walk in our Library / Museum to see if some documents or objects can be used for me or my family.
The newly established plan ready, my grandfather offers himself for the first round of guard. I warn Inuyama who accepts without arguing.
"-But could I still have what your mother served us a moment ago," he asks, wagging his tail.
I laugh with good heart and tell him that I'll bring him some before going to bed.
I warn the other two and explain to them the future plan. They also accepted without flinching and I showed them my playroom with a bed and told them they could sleep here.
"- Blóðvölva, it's too much honor for us, we can not sleep under the same roof as you and your family", he say while shaking his head.
"- You are my team now, and this house is big. You can sleep here and you will be able to protect my family quickly".
They look at each other and then kneel down.
"- Thank you Blóðvölva, we are happy to be your [Subordinate]".
I smile and caress their heads. This gesture is so natural that I only realize it afterwards. I quickly withdraw my hand and apologize. I then see Inuyasha smiling, showing his long canines, and Inukami's impassive face but whose tail moves from right to left.
I'm going to bed at last. Four hours of rest after several hours of fighting. I look at the time: it is ten o'clock in the morning. I was dead and resuscitated about six hours ago, I fought kobold for three hours, took an hour to get home when it normally takes only fifteen minutes, and then I stayed at home for two hours to talk with my family about our plan tonight ... what a day ... I end up falling into sleep.
Four hours later I am awakened by my mother. I had a deep sleep, no dream, a fair and restful sleep. I get dressed and just take my machete and go down to take my guard with Inuyasha. He is already there and when he sees me his tail start wagging.
(I think it's hard for them to lie, they're like real dogs, that's probably why I trust them ...)
I sit at the back of the house with a pair of binoculars prepared by my grandfather to scan the forest. Nothing special is happening, to my relief. Two hours later I wake everyone: finally our race for survival will begin...
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