CHAPTER 138: IT’S OK (3)

Level 53?

Lena noticed that too but didn’t make Reidar’s same surprised face. Though something was clear, this kid was even stronger than he had assumed.

Level 53 was significantly higher than the average level 25 the citizens in Havenwood had. It meant that this kid spent at least as much time as Lena hunting, and he was at least as decent as her.

The only difference between the two, at the moment, was Reidar’s presence. In fact, since Lena started traveling with him, she gained more than 40 levels. If this kid did the same, he would get even stronger than Lena. There was no doubt about it.

Well... I guess people with traits all have enormous advantages. I wonder what triggers the system to give traits to people. It’s something I will ask the next vendor I meet.

"Lena," Reidar said. "I suggest we rest a little."

The woman gave him a look that said, ’But what if he runs away?’ but Reidar replied with one of his own that said, ’He will just be ok’.

While Reidar certainly wanted to help the kid, Jake’s level showed he was plenty strong to take care of himself, and it wasn’t just that; Reidar and Lena couldn’t force him to stay with them, and even if they did, then what? Would they have to take care of a kid for how long? In their situation?

Would the kid listen to them to begin with? Would he stay put if they told him not to fight, or would he jump into the battle? Even worse, would he help if they asked him to?

Yes, Jake was a kid, but the point was that here not only was his life in danger, but everyone’s, and while Reidar certainly didn’t want to leave him behind, it was also true he wasn’t going to put his life in danger for Jake unless he earned it.

He did that enough in Havenwood, and he learned his lesson. That place really fucked me up.

Reidar wasn’t like this before those events. In the past, he would have helped the kid regardless and without questions, but after Havenwood, to him it looked like everyone wanted to take advantage of him, plus, there could be potentially bad consequences to his actions and choises. He felt like this might be one of them.

Lena turned to the boy. "You’re not going to run if we go to sleep, are you?"

Jake shook his head, his gaze dropping to the floorboards.

"We’re not here to hurt you," she said. "Just need a place to rest. We were worried about you out here alone, and that’s why we approached."

Reidar watched the boy’s reaction, the slight tension easing from his thin shoulders. The nod was small, almost imperceptible, but it was there.

He kept his spectral knights positioned near the apartment’s single exit, a silent precaution the boy wouldn’t notice, but it was better to keep. Not that it would last for long. The knight wouldn’t stay indefinitely.

The city outside had gone silent again, the earlier commotion settling into an uneasy stillness. Reidar found a relatively clean patch of floor and sat, leaning his back against the wall and keeping both the door and the window in his line of sight.

He then fell asleep.

...

...

...

Familiar. Martha’s face came into focus; Marcus laughed beside her. They were in a park Reidar recognized, one near their old house.

Then the ground shook.

The park twisted. Trees erupted through the playground equipment. The sky darkened to an pitch black. Martha turned to him with eyes wide with terror.

"Reidar!"

He tried to move. Tried to run toward them, but despite how much he ran, he could not reach them.

Monsters emerged from the treeline. Scaled beasts with glowing eyes. They moved with terrible purpose, closing in on Martha and Marcus.

"Run!" Reidar shouted, but his voice didn’t come out, and if it did, it was barely audible over the monsters’ growls.

Martha grabbed Marcus and ran. The boy stumbled. He was too small to keep the pace. She scooped him up, carrying him as she fled.

Reidar kept running, only for him to end up inside a mud pit that appeared out of nowhere, and he fought against it. His heart hammered. But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t reach them.

The monsters gained ground. Their jaws snapped at Martha’s heels. Marcus looked back over her shoulder, his face was pale and his eyes were searching for his father.

"Dad!"

That single word made Reidar despair more. He strained harder, fighting to break loose, but nothing worked.

Martha vanished around a corner, behind a building that hadn’t been there moments before. The monsters poured after her, a flood of death moving like dark water.

Reidar screamed. Then Martha and Marcus did.

The light started fading. The few lights that had barely illuminated the park dimmed, as if someone was slowly turning down their brightness. Shadows crept across the ground, reaching for him with finger-like extensions.

He felt himself falling. The world around him shrunk, narrowing to a tunnel.

Martha’s screams kept reaching Reidar through the closing tunnel. Then Marcus’s cry.

Then silence.

The darkness swallowed everything.

"AH!"

Reidar’s eyes snapped open, and he found himself gasping for air. Sweat drenched his shirt, and his hands shook.

The apartment came back into focus. Lena sat against the far wall, watching him with an unreadable expression.

Jake was curled in the corner, sleeping.

"Another one?"

Reidar pressed his palms against his face, waiting for his heart to slow down. It was just another nightmare.

"Yeah..."

He lowered his hands and stared at the ceiling, trying to forget the sound of Marcus calling his name.

Unfortunately for him, Reidar had been having nightmares since the apocalypse started. It was understandable; after all, Reidar didn’t know if Martha and Marcus were alive, and while he hoped they were ok, his rationale told him they weren’t.

"I bet they are safe, Reidar." Lena tried to calm him down, but it didn’t work. So, Reidar changed the topic, as it was the best way for him not to think about his family’s fate.

"What are we going to do?"

"About what?"

"About Jake," Reidar said. He looked Lena in the eyes. "We will need to bring him with us, but are we sure he will come?"

"I will convince him during our stay... Surely, seeing us getting food and killing monsters so easily will convince him that the safest thing to do will be to stay with us."

"And after that? You know, bringing him with us will be dangerous..."

Lena remained pensive. What Reidar said was true. While fighting monsters was relatively easy for Reidar, facing the church was likely not going to be the same. Plus, this would force Jake to watch them killing humans, and Lena didn’t know what effect it would have on his mind.

"Eventually we might leave him at a nearby settlement," she said.

Reidar sighed.

"We are going to leave in two days... Enough to rest as much as we can and to prepa—"

"NO!" Reidar turned, only for him to see Jake standing at his side with an enraged expression.