Sam shrugged.  “Lilly asked us to help her cut some skin from it, something about using it as armor.  When we’d peeled off enough to build a damned tent, the corpse faded into dust.”

As the sun cleared the treetops to the east, they lit the funeral pyre.  The bodies were consumed by the flames as they all stood quietly.   A few tears were shed, but most were too numb or too lost in memories of their own loved ones.  Allistor felt a building anger.  Too many innocent people had died.  Including all of his family.   He’d only known the three who just died a few days, but he thought of them as friends.  And they died fighting next to him.

Who the hell decided that 90% of the human race needed to be killed off?  What gave them that kind of authority?  And what kind of an ass would drop a level ten giant killing machine in a newbie zone in the first week of stabilization?

Finally, as the fire burned low, they turned and re-entered the Stronghold.  As Sam closed and barred the doors, Meg muttered, “It’s a shame.  I think Sandy fancied Robert Edward.”

Allistor stomped his way back to the fountain, the anger still building.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Pie R Round

Back in the town center, as he thought of it, Allistor called a meeting.  The others gathered around the tables that were still set up there and took seats.   He paced back and forth as he considered what he wanted to say.

“First, I want to say thank you to Michael and Ramon.  I don’t know how you guys did it, but you kept that thing off the rest of us for two days.”  He waited as the others all chimed in with thanks and pats on the back.

“I’m just a kid.  I didn’t know a whole lot about the world we lived in last week.  This new world, though.  This I know at least something about.  Its rules and mechanics are a lot like the VR MMORPG games that I’ve played all my life.”  He looked around the room, hoping someone would chime in.  Apparently, there weren’t other gamers among the survivors.