Hell

I thought about it a moment, "If I put ten things in a backpack, then put that backpack in another backpack, what happens?"

"A backpack is considered a single item, regardless of its contents. This rule applies to any storage device."

"Ryan?" Claire's voice called.

"Claire! I'm in here!"

"Oh, thank god. You've been gone a while, I was worried. Henry isn't bleeding anymore, but he's not looking good either. Also, a few more people have shown up.

Nodding, I tried to face where her voice was coming from, but I couldn't see her a damn through the window. It would be dangerous to do this around one of those bird monsters. "Claire, pick up the phone on the desk and try to make a call."

"What? You can't be serious, does it work?"

"Sorta," I said.

I heard her shuffle over, "Can you move?"

Shuffling away, I smiled in her direction, "Sorry." I listened to her fumble with the phone, only to gasp a second later.

"Oh my god."

"Claire, are they talking to you?"

"Yeah..."

"Good, do you mind moving to the other side of the room so we can hear our representative easier? I'd move, but I can't see at the moment."

"What? Why can't you see? And don't I need the... Oh... Alright."

"Thanks, Claire."

She didn't respond, but I could hear her softly talking on the other side of the room.

"Edith?'

"At your service," she said cheerily.

I sighed, "Alright, what else was there?"

"Just the store, I believe."

Nodding, "Right, let me see that... Wow..." The next menu popped up over the first. It was essentially a long list broken up into categories. I clicked the one for weapons and got a long list. Swords, spears, bows, maces, and things I was less familiar with. It didn't seem to have any modern weapons like guns or combat knives. Flicking through, it had a list for armor, food, various skill equipment, and items to fill many different needs. "Alright, Edith. Can I get a travelers outfit, a dagger, flint, and steel, wood for one day, and a chunk of meat?"

"Certainly, Mr. Ryan, that is a total of 431 points."

"That's fine."

"Excellent! Those items I have placed directly in the backpack. At this time, anything else you may purchase will go into the standard screen now before you. If you just will them to appear, they will be located at your feet."

I nodded, "Right. Okay. I'd like to say thank you, but."

"Oh, that's quite alright, Mr. Ryan. I'm perfectly fine if you hate me and everything I represent."

I groaned softly, "Hate is a strong word. You have been rather helpful, all things considered."

"If that is all, Mr. Ryan," she giggled. "I'll leave you to your fate as soon as you wish me away."

With a thought, the backpack in the menu disappeared. I hoped that meant it was now summoned. With a second thought, the menu vanished and the backpack thumped to the floor at my feet.

"Well, that works at least." Bending, I reached for the bag. But the moment I touched the strap, it vanished and appeared instantly on my back. "For crying out loud," I sighed. I decided to try something. Thinking about the bag, a screen filled my vision like before. Only, this time, it showed the contents of the bag in a checkered rectangle. On the other, was the naked me from the first screen. Only this time, it had no additional information boxes for my class and such. Looking over the contents of the backpack, I concentrated on the traveler's outfit. In an instant, I was fully dressed. Turning my attention to the dagger, I felt a small weight added to what was probably a belt.

Closing the menu, I looked myself over. I was wearing a cotton shirt and pants, a pair of sturdy leather boots, and a thin cloak with a hood. Surprisingly enough, it fit me perfectly and I swung my arms experimentally to prove the fact to myself. It wasn't the nicest fabric, but it seemed sturdy. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the dagger was on my right hip. Pulling it with my right hand, I admired the blade cautiously. Rubbing the edge, I could feel it was quite sharp. Maybe not sharp enough to shave, but sharp enough that I'd cut someone if I wanted to. As I stared at the blade, a small window popped up with a line that went right to it. It simply said.

C - DAGGGER

I thought about it a moment. Then thought about ringing Edith again.

"Hello, Mr. Ryan."

"Edith, what is the C in front of the word dagger?"

"C is the class of weapon. C is common, followed by uncommon, rare, very rare, and legendary.

"What's the difference? And why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Mr. Ryan, I can't tell you things you haven't discovered on your own. As for the classes. Right now you hold a dagger. It is made of metal, is sharp, has mass et cetera. In comparison, a legendary dagger would be made of lighter materials, be far sharper and impact far harder. Almost all equipment has different attributes that will increase and decrease with rarity. Even the meat you bought has different rarities."

"Wait, how could something weigh less, but impact harder?"

"Don't assume the physics of the world you recognize apply here, Mr. Ryan."

"Can I buy better items from the store?"

"Unfortunately not, Mr. Ryan. Only common items can be found in the store. Better items can be found in random loot drops throughout the world, on corpses, or made via crafting with the appropriate materials."

"Wait, crafting? Can I craft?"

"Everyone has the basic capabilities to do anything, Mr. Ryan. But it is impossible to advance your skills if it is not part of your class."

"Right... Oh, one last thing. Do I have to open that menu every time I want something from my bag?"

"No, Mr. Ryan. If you already know the exact item you want, you can simply summon it. If you have space for the item to be on your person, it will appear in place. Otherwise, it will fall to your feet like the backpack did before you touched it for the first time."

"Right," I sighed. "Thanks Edith."

"Take care, Mr. Ryan."

Taking another look at the dagger, I slipped it back into the sheath and looked over at Claire. I thought she was miming things for a moment, but I quickly realized it looked like she was scrolling through a menu. Probably the journal or something. I thought about Edith's words for a moment and decided I wanted to try something. With a last glance at Claire, I left the room and went over to the dead woman on the floor.

"Now, what happens if I try to collect you?"

Reaching out, I gently touched her shoulder and thought about collecting her. In an instant, a window popped up.

BONES (HUMAN)

INFERIOR MEAT

TEETH (HUMAN)

POINTS: 5000

I cringed thinking about the options. In particular, I cringed at the sight of the word meat. Concentrating on the points, they vanished from the list. But when I willed away the menu, the woman's body vanished as well.

"What the fuck?!" A voice snapped.

Turning, I looked at the young man staring at me from the stairs. "Yeah, I didn't know it was going to do that."

"You... You didn't kill her, did you?"

I shook my head, "No, I found her like this. She'd cut her own wrists. I just... Looted her?"

"What, like a video game or something?"

"Pretty much."

The young guy looked doubtful, "Right. Anyway, is Claire up here? Some angry dude is downstairs throwing a fit. She was the one who told us to sit tight and this dude's getting all up in our faces."

"Yeah, I'll get her. You head on down." The young man nodded and headed back downstairs. I turned and stuck my head back into the room, to see Claire's backpack appear strapped to her back. "You get all the info?"

Claire nodded slowly as she looked at me. "Yeah... I... "

"There's a guy downstairs making a scene. Did you get a weapon?"

She nodded, "what if it's him?"

I shrugged, "I'm not opposed to killing a rapist. I've done it once already, technically."

Chapter Two

Claire seemed to be handling things as well as she could. I hadn't asked her for specifics, but she'd bought the same clothes as me and wore a dagger at her hip. Even if she hadn't purchased the other things as I had, she'd at least bought the essentials. We headed down two floors to join everyone on the third floor. As we came down the final flight of stairs, we could hear a commotion.

"Fuck you! I died, do you understand me?! I died!"

I paused and glanced behind me at Claire, who was looking nervous.

"It sounds like him."

"How do you wanna do this?"

She shrugged, "Maybe if we tell everyone what he did, they'll make him leave?"

I smiled thinly. "Maybe. I'll stick by you no matter what though, alright?"

"Alright," she said softly.

We staggered down the last of the stairs into a small group of people. They seemed to be pressed against the walls, while a familiar looking irate man held a young woman against a wall.

"Hey!" I snapped.

The man looked around, spotted me and his eyes went wide! "You!"

Before I could respond, Claire rushed past me. His shocked expression quickly went to pain as a flash of silver turned to a red spray.

"You. Fucking. Bastard. Tried. To. Rape. Me!" She punctuated each word with a stab as the man slumped to the ground.

I quickly moved to grab her. Taking her arm in my hand, she struggled for a moment, before allowing me to pull her away. The woman he'd been assaulting, quickly moved over to join us.

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

I glanced around the room at everyone watching us. There were about a dozen people. Young and old, male and female. Maybe a few extra women than men. I glanced down at the man Claire had stabbed and saw his glassy eyed expression.

"Claire, touch his leg and think about collecting him."

She nodded and bent down. She paused as the menu must have filled her vision. But a moment later his corpse vanished and everyone in the room gasped.

"What just happened?" A man demanded.

"He was a rapist. Now he's dead. If you have an issue with dead rapists, you may as well leave," I said firmly. "Where's Henry?"

"Here," he called softly from behind me.

Turning around, I saw him. True, he didn't seem to be bleeding any more. An older woman about his age was holding his hand. But he didn't look good. Pale, clammy and sickly. Moving towards him, the few people in my way quickly moved. I tested out Edith's words and pictured the healing spray. Instantly, it appeared in my right hand. I tried not to think about how my hand instantly moved to hold something without my knowledge. Checking over the spray, it simply had a green line down one side and some notches. Twisting the top, a spray nozzle poked out. With nothing else obvious, I gave the spray a quick shake and leaned down to examine Henry's arm.

"This is a healing spray. I'm using you as a test subject."

"Why him?" The woman asked.

I looked at her, "He's injured. Either this will help, or it won't."

"It's okay, Lillian. It can't get any worse," Henry smiled up at her.

I realised they were probably the two oldest people in this room, by far. It was kinda cute seeing as they'd immediately decided to stick together like this. So, I gave the spray another shake and lifted his arm to get a better angle. I gave a couple experimental sprays down the wound, giving it a light coat. It seemed to work pretty much like a can of spray paint or deodorant. The liquid that coated his cut was the same bright green as the bar from the side. Turning the can over, I checked it and saw that the level had decreased, maybe a third of the way down to the first line.

"That's not possible," Lillian said.

Turning my attention back to Henry's cut, it seemed to be filling in from underneath. In all of ten seconds, I watched as the cut closed over and Henry's colour returned to his face.

"Well, that worked," I grinned. "How are you feeling old man?"

Henry shook his head and turned his arm over as the green faded into his skin. "It... It's healed. Doesn't even hurt."

I thought about it. If I got about three sprays per line. There were five lines. So about fifteen cuts. But I didn't know how it would work on say, an amputated limb, or a massive stab wound or something.

"Where did you get that, and the clothes?" a man grouched from behind me.

I turned and saw the closest faces staring at me in shock. Claire and the woman she'd rescued were still in the middle of the room and paying attention.

"Alright everyone. On the fifth floor is a telephone in an office. If this doesn't work, go upstairs and make a call. Now, imagine wanting to talk to someone inside your head."

There were a few confused looks, and even more sudden exclamations of shock. I looked around the room at everyone's faces.

"What, you think we're crazy?" a woman snapped.

I looked at her, but before I could speak, several others tried to shush her.

"EVERYONE!" I called, bringing all eyes to me. "If it worked, go find somewhere to sit and talk quietly. If it didn't work, there's a phone on the fifth floor, that's how I made it work for the first time. If you're going to ignore me, I don't give a shit, but I'm not going to coddle you. This isn't Earth. The rules have changed, which you'll discover the easy way, or the hard way. Now, I'm heading up to the highest floor to work out what I'm doing next. You're welcome to join me if you want." I turned my attention back to Henry and Lillian, who both had shocked expressions on their faces. "I'm guessing it worked?" I asked and they nodded. "Alright, I'm heading up. Are you coming with, and do you need a hand?"

"We'll follow," Lillian said softly.

I nodded and stood. People were already moving. Some downstairs, some up, others just moved into the other rooms that were still open and whole. I moved to the queue on the stairs and smiled as Claire and the new woman stood beside me.

"This is Polly," Claire said.

"Nice to meet you," I flashed her a smile.

"Thank you for saving me," she said nervously.

I shook my head. "I didn't do anything, that was Claire."

Polly shook her head, "You distracted him, Claire used his distraction. She already told me you were a team."

I glanced at Claire who blushed and looked away. "Fair enough then. Come on."

Getting to the stairs, we started climbing. The ones getting off on the fourth floor seemed to be heading for quieter places to talk. A few more were heading for the fifth floor and I pointed into the room with the phone. But I led our small group higher still.

"Should we check the floors as we go up? Maybe there's other people in here, or loot?" Claire said as we made it to the sixth floor.

I paused before going up the next flight, "That's actually a good point. Polly," I paused as I spotted Henry and Lillian come up behind her. "Good, you're here. Okay, Claire and I will quickly search each floor as we go up. You stay here and chat with your representative to get you up to speed."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Claire and I set off through opposite doorways. A quick sweep of the floor only turned up some footprints where dust had been lifted. Someone had definitely been up here, but they weren't any longer. The search of the floor turned up nothing else interesting and Claire and I returned to the stairs with everyone else.

"Find anything?" Henry asked.

"Nah, just footprints. There might be others up here."

The others nodded and followed me up to the seventh floor. There weren't any footprints on this floor, but we checked it anyway. Not that it turned out anything other than broken furniture and more debris. As I checked the last room, however, I ran into a...

"Hsss," the small, winged worm thing turned to face me.

"Fuck off, you little buzzard," I growled.

There weren't any other doors, but I could see there was a weirdly, intact looking box against the far wall. The only thing between it and me, was the monster. It was about the length of my arm and had a pair of beady little eyes. Its scales were a brownish grey colour and its wings were tinged yellow. It lifted itself up like a cobra and flared its wings to make itself look bigger.

"Shoo! Go away!" I snapped, waving my arms.

It must have taken that as a threat display and it suddenly sprung up into the air. Before I could pull my dagger, it flew at my face. Throwing up my hands, I narrowly caught it around the middle where its wings connected to the rest of its body. It snapped its jaws shut in front of my face, giving me a clear look at its sharp teeth. It struggled for a moment, trying to flap even with my hands in the way. It twisted back on itself to bite me, so I dropped it to the floor with a thump. Before it could jump up again, I pressed my boot over its neck. Here, it struggled and twisted, but couldn't free itself.

"Ryan, you okay?" Claire called, coming into the room behind me.

"Yup," I grunted, bending over the creature.

"Ew, I saw those things flying around outside. I think it's a scavenger or something. I hoped they wouldn't attack people."

I wriggled my foot down its body until its neck was exposed. It twisted around and tried to bite my foot, but thankfully couldn't get through the thick leather. That gave me the perfect opportunity to grab it behind the head. It released my boot with a hiss. But with its head under control, I took the weight off its body and picked it up. The thing, hissed angrily and glared at me as I stood, lifting it to get a better look.

"I think I provoked it," I said, pulling its tail out to check it over.

"What do you mean?"

"Over there, by the wall is a box I wanted to check. This thing was in the way. It saw me and made a threat pose. I sorta did the same thing, so it charged."

"Oh..." Claire moved in to take a closer look at it. "Hopefully that means they'll leave us alone. It would be bad to have these trying to kill us as well as those shriekers."

The small creature was still making hissing noises, but wasn't struggling any more. I pulled its head round to examine its mouth. All things considered, it didn't seem very snake like. But as I looked into its eyes, the small creature went limp. It was almost as if...

"Claire, do me a favour and back up a bit. Just be ready to grab this thing if it goes nuts."

She stepped back, "What, you're gonna let it go?"

I nodded and slowly loosened my grip. The small creature wriggled slightly, before pulling its tail up and flopping it over my arm. It gently pulled its head from my hand and looked up at me. As we stared at one another, I got the sense it was no longer a threat. Then I remembered Edith's warning about impending attack. So I grinned as the moment I contacted her, she answered.

"Congratulations Mr. Ryan. As the first to discover your class, you have been gifted two-thousand points."

"Right, is this thing going to attack me?"

"No, Mr. Ryan. The buzzard is now entirely under your control. I should warn you however, if it gets hungry, it may refuse orders and snap at you or others around you."

"Wait, it's actually called a Buzzard? What does it eat?"

"It is indeed, yes. And just about everything Mr. Ryan."

"Is there like, dog bones or something in the store I can purchase? Will that be enough?"

Edith giggled softly. "Mr, Ryan. Do you mean, bones from a dog, or bones suitable for a dog to eat?"

"The second one."

"We have soup bones, which would serve that purpose, for two points each."

"Do they stack?"

"Up to ten."

"I'll get ten."

"Very good, Mr. Ryan. That leaves you with a total of seven thousand, five hundred and thirty-nine points."

"Now, what's my class and what does it do?"

The class window popped up in front of me. I could see the boxes on my limbs now had information written in them. It seemed the shirt and pants gave me a +1 resistance boost. The cloak gave my torso and additional +1, with a single point to my head if I wore the hood. The boots however gave me a nice +3 resistance. On the other side of the screen, under class.