Harry and the Apocolypse

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/75993/harry-and-the-apocalypse

Someday I will finish this story I started to help me process losing my cat Harry.

The world as I knew it ended on a Tuesday in late September 2023. I was just sitting at my cramped home computer, virtually on Zoop, Math 107: Math in Society. I was internally screeching about compound interest when the screen suddenly warped, flickered and then all the power went out. The house was suddenly very quiet as the electricity running the fridge and the fan suddenly stopped. All the electric hums were gone. My cat, a black sphynx named Harry, chirped his concern about the outage. I picked him up and walked to look out the front window. We lived in Renton, a suburb southeast of Seattle, the weather had been a standard of this time of year, gray and cloudy but not quite raining.  I noticed that the sky looked weird, like it was slowly turning a greenish hue. I slid on my worn out combat boots over my fuzzy socks and hoodie over my black t-shirt and yoga pants. I put Harry’s harness and leash on him. He always gets excited when I reach for the leash on the back of the door. I grabbed my  Pac-Man Coach Messenger bag, from the outlet, and walked out to the front yard Harry walking in front of me, he was like a dog on his leash. I started leash training him as soon as I got him, 4 years ago. He was my emotional support cat. I know, you think I am one of those people who just want to take my “fur baby” everywhere. I am not. I actually got recommended to get a pet from my therapist, who is also my psychiatrist. He really is my best friend. My husband, Justin, says Harry and I are “inappropriately close”. It’s definitely not like that, it's just that he can read my body language and know what I want him to do. He was really strong willed while training, high energy and fearless. I coincidentally got Harry in December 2019. Of course 2020 brought the plague and I was home all the time then. I barely left the house for more reasons than just Covid but Seattle got hit with it hard and fast, one of the earliest places in the country. So it was just me and Harry. There were times that I thought I made a huge mistake and this cat would be the death of me. Somehow he became my inseparable shadow.

The sky was now noticeably green now; the sick pale green of sour apple cotton candy. I had my phone out, about to call Justin. My phone had no service. I watched the clouds churn like I have never seen in the PNW. They reminded me of the 3 hurricanes I lived through in Florida. I knew this was dangerous weather, flying objects alone can kill in this sort of wind. The world began to quake at this point and I fell on my ass and Harry ran into my arms. Harry was clinging to my stomach with his every claw. I held on to him and buried my face in his hairless, velvety skin. We stayed balled up while the shaking grew more violent and a light mist rain began to come down. I looked up to see the pea soup clouds were right on top of us. There was a green fog blocking my vision save for a couple inches around us. The wind was suddenly howling and blew me from a sitting position back to a fetal ball wrapped around Harry, who was all screaming howls and claws. I could feel the burn of several bleeding scratches, but I clung on to him. What felt like an eternity passed and my mind was full of Dorthy riding a house into Oz, except we were being freight trained by a Emerald Tornado. The wind slowed enough for me to half crawl a dozen feet to where my house should be, but I could not find it. Through wet gusts I slowly creeped around finding no manmade shelter. With no other options, I crawled into a sewer drainage hole in our neighbor’s hill. Harry crawled under my hoodie, shaking and cold. We were both soaked and cold. 

All I could think about was which disaster was happening? Did WW3 finally start? Did China, Russia or North Korea join forces and toss a nuclear warhead at the Pacific Northwest? Did one of the  five major active volcanoes in Washington: Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, and Glacier Peak decide today was the day to pop off? Last year, the US government with  NASA told us UAP, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena are real and so aliens are probably real too. My brain screamed endless possibilities and no way to know while huddled in the cold and wet hole in the ground. 

Eventually the wind and rain stopped enough that we crawled out and began to search the neighborhood. We stumbled into nothing but trees and bushes, these areas had less of the thick misty fog. The fog was weird, it was so dense in some areas that it felt like soap suds. Like that thick tiny bubble texture. But the green spaces were just regular thick fog. My small 1950’s neighborhood had tiny lots with houses right on top of each other, cars lining the  zig zag streets because garages were never used for cars. They were usually converted into rental spaces. All the houses, cars and fences were just gone. Everything that was inside too as far as I could tell. I started to full out panic and briefly wondered if I had died and this was my personal hell?  I found my purse near the empty dirt where our front porch should have been and took a quick inventory of what items I had:

1. Keys, house and car

2. Make-up bag with mascara, cherry chapstick and pink eye shadow stick.

3. 7 pieces of mint gum

4. Small tin with 3 bandages and ½ tube ointment

5. Wallet with various cards and $17

6. Pocket knife (Christmas present from Justin 3 years ago)

7. Weed Vape pen - Choco Loco flavor 

8. Non-working cell phone

With the immensely thick green foam in the air, I couldn't make out anything two arm lengths in front of me, forget about landmarks. I did know I was near the top of the hill and hoped that heading in the downward slope was North. I wanted to get to Seattle where Justin worked. If I survived whatever the hell just happened, maybe he did too.

Harry and I walked for over an hour before we came across our first human.

He was an older black man with mostly gray dreadlocks, pushing a Target shopping cart covered in a blue tarp and wearing a long coat, Seahawks teal and lime green scarf with matching hat and fingerless gloves. I assumed he was homeless based on his cart but then realized so was I. Visibility was so low that we were practically running into him. I put my hands up to show they were empty. Harry was still in my hoodie, poked his nose out through the neck hole and meowed.

“Hi there, we’re friendly and don’t want any trouble!” I spoke first, wishing I had my pitiful pocket knife available, just in case. I will just rely on my years of customer service to help me. Despite my look, I am covered from head to toe in tattoos and have a blonde mohawk. I have never been in a physical altercation in my life and before today considered myself a pacifist. I have worked in customer service since my dad died when I was 15. I have a knack for reading people fast.

He was taller than me but didn't look me in the eye. He stared at Harry as he popped his head completely out and met eyes with the man. “Ain’t you seen them angels? The rapture done came and you left here too, huh.” He leaned in towards me, “I ain’t gon hurt you. Angel's might, but I won’t. I ain’t never hurt nobody.” He looked at me appraisingly, nodded then handed me a brand new bottle of water from his cart. He looked at Harry and handed me a 2nd bottle. “Be careful out here. Saw some bubbles eating up whole buildings, people and all. Demons!” He paused and looked at his hands. “Bubbly demons.” He made exploding gestures with both hands and mouthed POP!

I took the water, genuinely grateful and shoved them into my satchel. “Thank you! What’s your name? I’m Lisa and this is Harry.” Harry meowed agreeably.

The disheveled man smiled and nodded his approval but did not answer my question. He started walking again, the way we had just come.

“There isn’t much out that way. Where are you going?” Turning to follow him, “Do you want some company?” Suddenly my face reddened. Was I an idiot? The guy gives you water and you assume he’s nice? Get it together!

He laughed deep and wild and then merged into the swirling green abyss,“Nah girl, you gonna be safer without me. Going to get in on yonder Angel doin!” His laughter followed him into the swirling fog.

Well that was a lucky treat, we drank a little of the water. Harry masterfully lapped water from the cap while still in my hoodie and we continued in what I still hoped was north.

It took another 4 hours of walking to reach what I think was left of the once enormous downtown Seattle. I estimated based on the darkening of the green that the sun had set. It should be very dark but green hue made the world almost like dark vision goggles. Harry came out of his safe space and walked alongside me. I kept his harness on him but he kept stopping to sniff and meow his complaints. Finally I just took it off and put it in the bag. The flat gravel that used to be I-5 cut through beautiful green spaces that looked haunted with fog. Eventually we came to an intersection of roadways, or where the roads must have been, as the path plunged deep into a newly carved ravine. A few sidewalks and random street signs remained. I saw a wrecked Mazda Miata and ¾ of a bicycle, but nothing useful so far. I thought of Justin and if he would be heading south towards me. I stopped suddenly paralyzed with the idea. “Should we have just stayed put, Harry?” I asked the cat, who was walking uninterested in front of me. I suddenly sat down in the dark Emerald gloom to have a meltdown.

I pulled my knees into my hoodie and wept. The idea that some alien invasion, or biblical rapture or Nuclear vaporization or something even crazier had just wiped out all of Seattle, maybe all the world, was just too much. I could not imagine a life without Justin. We were high school sweethearts. I literally fell out of the bus in front of him, he scooped me up like a dashing hero. My dad died when I was 15 from a heart attack. So I was a depressed mess, but he quickly became my best friend. He confessed he loved me and agreed to wait till I was ready to date. We waited a year to “officially” start. We went to Prom together. We got married right after graduation and then surprised his folks by buying a house at 25. Even though I grew up dirt poor I was a hard worker and we were happy. Then the rest of my family died after dropping some crazy life-changing news and I kinda lost my mind. Justin supported me 100%. We ended up filing bankruptcy, selling the house and moving to Seattle to start over. I got heavily tattooed and started therapy. Weekly, then bi-weekly. I started school and had been working on my Bachelors in Art Therapy. Justin was working at an apartment community and had climbed the ranks from Maintenance Tech to Maintenance Director with multiple properties under his supervision. We were finally starting to get our lives on track again. And then this happened. I could not believe that he was gone. Our next wedding anniversary would have been 20 years.

“He can’t be gone,” I wept aloud sobbing for a moment, 2 hot tears running down each cheek.

“Someone there?” A man’s voice called out to me. I could hear footsteps running but I couldn’t tell where they came from.

My heart was in my throat, what should I do? I reached into my purse and pulled out my 3 inch pocket knife. I looked around for Harry but he was nowhere to be seen in the dense fog. A blur whipped past me, it was the cat, charging the voice of the man, I pushed myself up to my feet and followed. A few steps and I see Harry right in front of a young man in a UW hoodie. Harry’s tail began to lash side to side and he had his mouth open inhaling deeply. Being a crazy cat lady, I know this means he is “scenting” data with his Jacobsen organ located in his mouth. As I approached, just a step away from Harry, he began to growl low and deep. Then my 10 pound, hairless, house cat launched himself at the jogger with the ferocity of a jaguar. He flew directly to his face claws out. Harry was almost 4 years old and was the most even tempered cat I have ever known. He never got into a fight unless it was playful. This was not playful. This was yowling and spitting, clawing and biting, slapping with full claws. He tried to grab the cat but Harry climbed around his back before he could. Finally he ripped the pissed off pussy cat and a spray of blood came with him. He threw the little cat towards me. I watched it all happen in shock, I had never seen him do anything like that. I saw Harry land on his feet and hiss menacingly at the man.

“What the fuck is wrong with your cat?!” He screamed at me. He looked at his bloody hands “I will fucking kill you!” then he charged me.

In my almost 40 years I have never been in a real fight. I held my knife wielding hand up and tried to look menacing, bracing for impact. I noticed how small the blade in my right hand was. The pink metal was chipped from opening Amazon packages, the only thing I ever really used it for. He reached me, his hands around my throat. Harry jumped on him from behind, swatching his face while claws digging into his shoulders. I tried to scream but couldn't. I jabbed my blade wildly, aiming for his chest and stomach. My vision started to go black around the edges and my lungs burned. Finally Harry dove off the man’s head, pushing his neck onto my upturned blade. I flailed and he thrashed and suddenly my right hand was soaked in a gush of hot, thick blood. The man loosened his grip on my neck and wrapped his hands around his own neck, now pouring blood. My knife was still in my now blood soaked hand.

“Bitch.” He croaked weakly then fell down, twitched and crawled a few feet before he bled out. The massive blood trail looked black in the green gloom.

“Harry?” I called raspy, my voice raw. I looked around for Harry but still couldn't see much further than a few feet. He appeared from the smoke, limping slightly and covered in blood. “Why Harry? Why did you attack that man?”

He limped up to me and I picked him up, inspecting his damage. To my utter shock Harry responded by saying “He was a bad man. He was going to kill us.” I dropped the cat. I have truly lost it. He started cleaning himself. He paused thoughtfully then said “I found the alien worm creature that lets me talk.”

I stumbled away from the talking cat to take in the now dead man. I hope he is dead. I waited a very long time and then I kicked him real hard in the head, just in case. I don't know if the talking fuckin’ cat is right but I did need something to take my frustrations out on and his corpse was here. I kicked it a few more times for good measure. Once I was done panting for air, I assessed what I needed to do next. A lifetime of RPG games has taught me this one. I didn’t want to do this but I knew I needed the supplies. Loot the Body.

I left his shoes, much too big for me but I took the warm, wool socks. I also took his pants and slid them over my much too thin yoga pants. His fleece lined jogging pants with real pockets would serve me better. I cut off his bloody sweater, now cold and heavy, using my knife and made “clean” bandages from the back of it. They were much less splattered but still contaminated with his blood, but that can't be helped right now. He had a wallet with an Washington ID that said his name was Sean Hawkins. He was only 26. I found $57 and a blue bandana folded up. I took it all and then threw his wallet on his body, now nude save for navy blue boxer briefs. It felt wrong to leave him lying here on the gravel where I-5 used to run.

“Sorry we had to kill you. I hope you are at peace.” I mumbled awkwardly, some eulogy better than none. I was raised in a Southern Baptist church but fooled around with all sorts of religions before deciding I was Atheist. If aliens are real, and somehow made my cat able to speak, does that prove there is not a god? My brain feels rattled, my body going through the motions of an autopilot.

I approached Harry to clean his wound and saw him sitting beside, my best guess, a 9” chef knife. Was the dead guy carrying that knife? I noticed the blade was covered in wiped off blood. Had Harry been right? I took the knife in my bag and sat down beside the injured cat. He nuzzled his head under my chin in his familiar “I’m sorry” gesture. Using a little water and the strips of cotton jersey I cleaned the mud, blood and gore from him as best I could. I used one of my bandages on his leg which was scratched badly. I also wiped my own face and hands. I already feel the pain in my hands, my neck, my shoulders from the fight. We drank the rest of one bottle of water and then Harry walked towards the man. I heard the sound of him eating and momentarily was confused. Then I realized. He was eating Sean Hawkins, the man who attacked me, choked me, tried to kill me. I hated it but I also knew Harry was hungry and this was protein. I walked far enough away to not hear him eating. I reorganized my bag, taking stock of my dwindling inventory. Then I laid down, using my purse as a pillow and surprisingly fell into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to a looming creature across the street from me. It was still so dark out so I must have only napped a few minutes. The alien creature was massive, I could barely understand what I was seeing at first. As I slowly scrambled to my feet, I watched the creature. It was roughly 12 feet tall with 4 elephant-like legs and a bulbous frog-like head and torso. Its two arms are disproportionately smaller than the legs. I couldn’t see its face since it was facing away from me. It looked like it was blowing bubbles from an old fashioned vacuum cleaner. The violently green bubbles dissolved structures on contact. An awkward Pine St. street sign had been jutting from the previously dissolved intersection, now it disappeared under the suds. Harry was nowhere in sight, which was still shrouded in a dense fog. I did not want to get the monster's attention so I quietly collected my purse and ran down the exit. There were huge holes where buildings had been and once upon a time, in 1889 according to the Underground Tour we had taken; Seattle burned down in a fire and rebuilt itself on top of its former foundation, bigger and better. The aliens had taken it all. Everything, down to the surf and sand, making the area I was currently at a high ledge to the pit below. I was breathing hard and scared I had lost Harry forever in this Escher inspired pit of former roads and sudden drops.

I saw a green space with massive evergreen trees, it must be a park but I would be damned if I knew which one. I ran up the path into the tree cover and crouched to catch my breath. I was wheezing, I know I smoke too much. I realized I had not hit my vape pen since this all started. Justin would be so proud. He kept encouraging me to quit. I noticed the green space had fresher air, less fog. Harry came running up with something in his mouth. He meowed a very specific, “I caught something” high pitch urgent meow. My stomach growled and then I was disgusted by that. I approached trying to see what he was holding, when the black slug-like creature jumped from his mouth to mine. It looked small as he approached, it felt huge like an anaconda as it forced itself into my throat. Instead of going down to my stomach, like I had anticipated, the cold snot climbed up into my sinus cavity. I gagged helplessly as it slithered all the way in, hanging for a brief moment down my lips then zipping up. It felt like my face was going to explode. My ears rang in a high pitched tinnitus tone and then the world faded to white.

A human sized black worm was sitting across from me in the empty white abyss. Without eyes I could still tell it was looking at me. Its pointy beak mouth said, “Hello hu-man, Lisa! I am here to do your on-boarding!” Its voice was androgynous, placid but friendly. A white patio set suddenly appeared in front of us and the worm elegantly slithered into the chair, curling up on itself comfortably.

“Welcome! It seems your world was chosen to join the Transgalactic Interverse Society aka TIS. This is a multi-system conglomerate that hopes to unite all sentients everywhere in commerce. You have survived the culling purge portion of the system upgrade. Congratulations! Most do not! Over 75% of the native population has been eliminated.” It paused and waited for my reaction.

I was honestly dumbstruck. What the actual fuck is happening to me. My brain is not working at all. “What are you?” I managed to ask.

“I am a representative of TIS. My species is from the planet Oligo, and we are called Helminths. We are of a shared mind species that adapts well into a symbiotic relationship with most carbon based life forms.” It paused to flip the tip of its tail remarkably like a hand toss, then continued, “Over the next few cycles, er, hours you and other survivors will be brought online on our new Earf. New inhabitants arriving from other systems will be relocated to Earf and then Phase 2 will commence. You will be required to get a system approved job and contribute to the financial stability of the new economy. Your previous life skills will be taken into consideration and your options will be based on your skills. You must get to a safe space and speak with a vendor to continue.Good Luck hu-man.” Then it tilted its head in an up and down bob and I woke up.

Before I could move from my lying position, a little black worm icon appeared in my vision, like Clippy from Microsoft Office when I was in High School. As soon as I focused on the icon, it came to life and spoke in my mind. “Hi Lisa! I am your new companion from TIS. I am part of the hive collective universe. You may name me and ask me any questions you have. I will keep track of your development and I will give any tips I can. I also will give you system notifications from TIS.”

“Uh huh” I said out loud to the worm in my head.

“Oh you can just think directly to me, I will read your intent easily. I can read your discomfort and I empathize. The system is invasive for non-share minded species, but I promise you will get used to it and soon we will be so in sync you might forget I am a separate entity from yourself!” It said this joyfully with a happy squirm. I wondered if it felt my revulsion.

“Well I will just call you Wormy for now, okay?” I thought to it.

The little worm did a cartwheel in joy. “Wormy is a great name! You can see your current character sheet by just thinking about it. Let me pull it up for you now! Apparently, you recently leveled up! You have 2 Undistributed points you can use to level up your skills or purchase new skills with a trainer.”

I focused on the strange panel floating in my vision. I couldn’t touch it as it did not exist outside my head. Suddenly the panel looked like a printed sheet of standard paper. I could focus on each part and Wormy would helpfully explain it. He went line by line giving me a breakdown on each and every part. I tried to remain neutral and just take it all in. I was humbled to see my lifetime of learning and experiences summed up so lamely. This is not a good indicator of my life. I felt white hot rage shoot up from my stomach to my brain. I managed to breathe it away.

Name: Lisa H. Janpop Level: 2

Species: Human

XP: 0/200. total XP: 153

Career: Undetermined

Finances: Undetermined

Missions: 0

Age: 39

Health: 97/100 _______________________________________________

Skills: 1- Beginner, 2- Competent, 3- Proficient, 4- Expert, 5- Master

Undistributed points: 2

Survival 2

Navigation 2

Scavenging 2

Shelter Creation 1

First Aid 2

Self Care 1

Education 3

Psychology 2

Biology 2

Philosophy 1

Technology 2

Occultism 1

Earf History 1

Reading 4

Storytelling 1

Writer 2

Creative Arts 3

Drawing 4

Painting 3

Material Working 1

Wood 1

Leather 1

Glass 1

Clay 2

Paper 2

Fiber 1

Domestic 2

Cooking 2

Housekeeping 3

Laundry/ Sewing 2

Simple tool usage 2

Complex tool usage 1

Customer Service 3

Negotiation 3

Persuasion 3

Intimidation 1

Conflict Resolution 2

Inventory 2

Accounting 1

Budget 1

Animal Care 3

Feline 4

Canine 2

Tarantula 2

Acrobatics 1

Athletics 1

Melee fighting 1

Swimming 2

Ping Pong 2

Yoga 2

Zumba 2

“Some features of your character information are undetermined because you have not yet unlocked the Safe Space rewards. You have 2 points to add to any skill but must unlock a safe space first! Your first Mission is to “Find Safe Space and talk to a Vendor to Upgrade” The worm said and then spiraled down to its diminutive standard size of the worm icon.

The worm icon never left my vision, just fazed out of noticeability. It reminded me of my bridge piercing. People always ask if I notice the little blue opals at the top of my nose but your brain tunes it out. I only notice them if I try to. The icon was mostly like that.I dismissed the worm and the sheet and stood up to find Harry. I was still on the grassy, pine tree haven some time ago. It was now brighter green outside and my stomach was growling so it must be some hours later. Harry was looking down at me from the lowest branch of the closest evergreen. He croaked a little meow then said, “I have a worm too. They made me give it to you. I am sorry.” His speaking voice was much deeper than his meow.

I sighed. I always wished he could talk to me and now he can but it took the literal end of the world. I tapped my fingertips to my shoulders, my signal for him to jump on me. “I know Harry. I know this is not your fault and I wish you had told me before but I am not mad at you. Come here, please.”

Before I finished speaking he jumped into my arms and we hugged it out. He climbed onto my shoulders and while purring head bumped me affectionately.

Worm icon activated! “Would you like to add Harry as a companion?”

I thought Yes and our worms informed us that we could now communicate telepathically via a message rely through our alien worms. “Oh goody” I thought with sarcasm. My stomach growled and we started to search for the “Safe Space.

Did you see what was left of that guy?” Patrick said to the small hunched figure he pushed in the wheelchair.

The man sitting in the chair said nothing. He was 98 years old Eduardo Hernandez and had arrived at the UW hospital with chest pains. Patrick, wearing his green scrubs and beige fleece pullover and black non-skid tennis shoes had been escorting the man from his son’s car to the Emergency Room entrance. The building had been under construction and so they were forced to walk through the parking lot. The sky had been dark and cloudy when a neon green laser shot down from the sky and the building dissolved into bubbles. Suddenly everything was meteors and foam. And the world ended. Patrick Tsun; 54, 4th year med student, recently divorced with no kids, wandered the streets in a daze talking to the man all night.

He only just realized the man was long dead, having passed quietly some time ago. Probably amidst the chaos and calamity his heart just stopped. They had just come to the dead jogger that had met his ill fated end. He only saw a mostly naked man, covered in crows, so many crows. It was like every crow in Seattle was taking turns on the corpse. He met the black beady gaze of the largest crow.

“You Know,” Patrick continued his endless prattle, “ In Tibet and some parts of Mongolia they practice Sky Burials and give their dead to the massive vultures there. These guys aren’t vultures but they will do you better than anything else I could do.”

He gently pushed him out of the chair beside the other dead man and then fled, with the wheelchair. He was using it like a cart now, carrying anything he finds that might be useful. Then he ran almost directly into the massive quadrupede alien with the bubble machine. The creature blinked its round, dark eyes and then nodded. It reached into a pocket on its gray uniform and then handed him a tiny something. Robotically without thought, Patrick reached up to grab the item and pulled back a sticky tar like gummy worm. It was black and squidgy. As he pulled it closer to look at the worm shot into his face and started to force itself up his nose. He tried to pull it off and away but moved unbelievably fast and soon he was laid out on the ground.

Patrick was telling this story to me and Harry as we sat on the beach of the Puget Sound, Discovery Park I think. I realized with the sea breeze the green fog was almost gone here. We met Patrick down here at the shore. There were a few tense moments where I had the chef knife out threateningly and he approached slowly pushing the wheelchair, loaded with a plastic box of supplies. I was relieved to not have to fight him so I let my guard down. I did not put on the customer service face though.

I mostly stayed on task. I had managed to make a fire using paper and some dry plant fibers. I was nursing my sore left index finger that I had struck with the flat stone before getting a real spark. Soon enough, the three of us sat around a small campfire eating fish and drinking Monster Energy drinks that Patrick had found at an empty homeless encampment. Harry had been the primary fisher, standing in the ice cold water to his knees and patiently waited for the prey to come close.

Then he expertly swiped the fish into the dry air. I had no idea where he learned these skills. He usually fought me when I gave him his weekly bath, but I was so grateful. I was freezing just looking at him. I wished I had a beanie, as I keep my hair shaved into a mohawk so usually my head gets cold in the wind.

“All seaweed is edible, though some are more nutritional and palatable than others, and some can cause stomach upset. Brown seaweeds consist of carbohydrates that cannot be digested.” Patrick was still babbling about the “Natural foraging of the native Salish people.” while foraging seaweed.

It’s super interesting but I was not really listening when I heard Harry growling. Patrick and I both turned to see Harry had crept towards the treeline and was standing sideways, back arched in the classic Halloween cat pose. His growls had turned into a feral snarl and from the thinning mist a giant mutant rat monster appeared! It was about double the size of Harry and moving quickly towards us. I jumped up, grabbing the handy chef knife. I ran towards the rat and landed a kick to its head. I noticed the teacup sized black eyes were focused on Harry, even though I was much larger than the mutant rat.

Harry pounced on to the rat clawing at its face fiercely then launching himself away. Patrick suddenly charged past me, whacked the beast with a baseball bat sized piece of wood. It splintered on contact and knocked the rat back. It squealed then lunged at Patrick. With the rat’s focus on him and it's back towards me, I plunged the knife down aiming for the base of its neck and hitting lower than I wanted. The knife plunged mercilessly into its spine. It shook violently then went limp suddenly and then I stomped on its head as a double tap. Then a notification appeared in my vision.

“Rat Monstrosity level 2 slain! +35 XP! Plus $50 credits!” The little worm squirmed and said happily. I groaned in disgust. “XP was split among party members based on contribution” It explained. “It will turn into a treasure drop.”

Suddenly the rat’s back melted into a furry box. I looked at the magical chest in open mouth wonder. Patrick reached in and pulled out a real baseball bat, heavy and new. It was weirdly long for such a short box.

I reached into the fuzzy, gray-black box to find a purple beanie with little cat ears like the one I got from my sister last Christmas. Then I reached in for Harry and found a can of Sheba Cat Pate. He meowed loudly. “Open it!” Once we removed the loot from the rat box, it dissolved into ash.

“I was just hoping I had a better weapon.” Patrick said in a quiet voice, heading back to the campfire. Harry was meowing at the food. I popped the tin open and he dove right in. I pulled the beanie on and moved back to the fire with Patrick. He had taken a nasty bite on his forearm from the rat. I used my bottled water to clean his wound, rubbed some ointment on each tooth hole and then bandaged it.

I noticed my worm icon was blinking white. As soon as it had my full attention a notification popped up. “Skill upgrades! First Aid +1! Melee Fighting +2! New Skill variant upgraded via experience Knife Fighting +1!”

“Patrick, have you ever played an RPG video game?” I asked him.

“I played some Super Mario and Duck Hunter back in the day but I don’t think that's what you mean.” he shook his head no.

“I think that we have to find monsters to get loot and skills to survive. I have a quest to find a Safe Space, do you have something like that?”

He nodded, “Yeah I have a mission to find a safe space. Any ideas where, or what, that is?”

“No, but I think we are running out of time.” I said and pointed up at the faint lines of meteors just barely visible over thinning fog. “ I think those are aliens that have landed on Earth. I think they are who we are fighting, or maybe just monsters? I am not sure but it seems like we should hurry.”

Patrick nodded his understanding. We put out what was left of the mostly burnt away fire and I packed up my belongings. I kept the knife in my hoodie pocket not wanting it to be hard to get to. Soon the three of us were heading towards the dense evergreen trees of Discovery Park. We had to climb up a steep hill and soon ran into another rat monstrosity.

We made it out of the park without any injuries. Besides 2 more rat monstrosities, we fought a pine cone monster that reminded me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors except it was a hardwood, cone like exterior. It was about 4 feet tall and luckily was immobile except for the snapping cone attached to the tree base. It was called a “Diabolically-mutated Flora - level 1.” The 2 rat boxes contained paper wrapped, turkey and swiss cheese sub sandwiches for me and Patrick as well as sliced deli meat for Harry. The pine cone box contained something more exciting. Each of us got 2 golden tickets, one for “Upgrade any weapon” and “Upgrade any clothing to armor.”

We walked into the remains of a housing area, lots of little plots of missing houses instead of skyscrapers. It was definitely Day 2 now and the sun was overhead. The thick gray fog was greatly reduced but the clouds were not quite gray anymore. They looked mildewy. We were walking south and ran into a creature that was bear shaped but not a bear. It was in the distance so we approached cautiously, making Harry lead the way. He had much better eyesight than I did, not to mention his nose worked 14 times better than mine.

He was out of my line of sight but he meowed in my head. “It’s made of trash pandas!”

“It’s a giant raccoon? I asked him.

“No," he corrected me. "It's made of dozens of raccoons merged together.” He suddenly reappeared in front of me and said aloud “We can’t beat that thing. It was level 13 and it stood at least 15 feet high with dozens of clawed limbs.” He said with such confidence that I did not argue with the cat. I looked at Patrick who just shrugged. The multi headed behemoth was fighting with itself and so we agreed to creep around it without fighting. said It was covered in tiny raccoon limbs and black hands. It will definitely haunt my dreams forever.

I felt like we actually stood a chance of surviving today when we ran into the first giant hole full of giant spiders. Harry’s tail flicked side to side in excitement. My stomach dropped in terror. They were not just jumbo versions of regular PNW black house spiders, no no no. They were not even monster versions of any Earth spiders I knew and being from Florida I had seen some spiders. These were more like the drow driders from Dungeons and Dragons; you know black skin, white haired elf people from the waist up with huge spider butt and legs like a fucked up centaur. Except these were not beautiful elves.

These creatures were gray aliens with massive orb eyes and two small arms near their mandibles and another longer set of arms on their torso. Then their lower half was split into at least 8 leg limbs. They were crawling around a massive web at the entrance of their home that once was a building basement. I estimated them to be human sized but luckily they were very far away and did not seem to notice us yet.

I was staring in unadulterated terror at the alien spider centaurs, I was too far to see their assigned names. Suddenly Patrick touched my arm and I almost stabbed him. “Ahh!”

He jumped back, bat in one hand and the other hand held up in defense. “Woah! I just had a thought. Let's take a step back and do a little planning.”

Harry jumped to my shoulder and rubbed his head on my head. “I’m okay. Just a little scared.”

Patrick’s idea was insane but ultimately it was a better plan than I had, so we agreed to do it. First we needed supplies. We decided to try to lure the raccoon monster into the alien spider nest and see if we can take out two enemies at once.

Our plan was to lure the Level 13 Raccoonbear Monstrosity to the den of Spiderstaurs. Patrick and Harry actually did most of the planning. They suggested we leave a food trail and keep out of sight. That sounded like a great idea to me. So first we need to find some bait. We back tracked towards the Puget Sound, hoping to find easy seafood. We were moving back through the thick woods. The sky was cloudy and faintly tinted green as was our new usual.

"Hey Pat, why do you think the sky turned green? Do you think it happened everywhere?" I stopped to catch my breath. He stopped too. He was still pushing his wheelchair cart and it was demanding. Harry was out of sight ahead on the trail.

"I think the aliens altered our atmosphere. Or maybe it's space dust that came along?" He rustled through the crate in the seat and pulled out two hard granola bars. We ate them greedily, enjoying a moment of calm in the still woods.

Then I heard a squeaky grunt from behind me. I saw the horror in Patrick's eyes and just knew a monster was back there. Not just any monster, the giant raccoon homunculus we had been searching for. It was shockingly close considering how massive it was. And it was heading straight towards us. All the raccoon eyes, dozens of beady black eyes staring hungrily. We threw the granola wrappers down and Patrick abandoned his chair as we ran in the opposite direction.

"Harry!" I screamed as we ran. I tried to look for him but couldn't keep track while running and keeping an eye on the monster. It seemed to be investigating the cart and fighting itself for the contents. The many hands smacking itself and the various mouths growling and hissing.

We ran through the forest and my thighs burned. My lungs burned. I was not in shape for this much running. Patrick was out of sight but I heard him ahead of me. I slowed slightly to catch my breath.

And then the arms reached me. The bear made of raccoons had moved exceptionally fast and grabbed me with it's many deformed hands and biting mouths. Before I could really react, it fell upon me. I was crushed by the massive weight of the monster. Up close it was even scarier with deformed heads and torsos making up the body. It pushed the air from my lungs and all I could breath in was hot animal hair. The putrid wet-dog smell was nauseating and I was choking on it. My left hand was in a mouth being gnawed on, my right hand was pinned under my body, my legs were being scratched and ripped apart. I tried to kick, to wiggle, to fight back but there was no use, it was much too strong. I could not move or breathe and knew I was going to die. There was a vibration in the ground, although I didn't notice it, and the monster mostly paused in its mauling of me.

Suddenly the monster pushed down harder on me, my chest popped and I think ribs broke under its massive bulk. All the heads started to growl and a metallic smell began to permeate the animal musk. I felt tremors run through the beast's body, it jerked and flipped on top of me. I gasped for breath as it allowed my chest the tiniest bit of room.

Then it was off me, slumped over and badly damaged. It tried to slash at me but it was dying and slow. I was gasping in the cold air as deep as my feeble lungs would allow. The monster had dozens of sticks poking out of it, reminding me of a pin cushion for sewing. I pushed myself away, unable to stand. My legs were crushed ruins, I was missing my pinkie and ring fingers on my left hand.

“Ha..rry?” I coughed out blood splattering as I looked around wildly. The sight that my eyes focused on was confusing and scary.

Harry was sitting on the shoulder of one of the Spiderstaurs. There were dozens of them in the trees and crawling closer to me. My brain decided that was just too much, or blood loss, and I passed out.