Chapter 17: Under Siege
"How did they find us?" Lisa whispered.
"Doesn't matter," Maya said. "What matters is we're surrounded."
I used Inspect on the group below:
[RAIDERS x15]
[LEVELS: 2-4]
[LEADER: LIEUTENANT TORRES - LEVEL 5]
[AFFILIATION: The General's Army]
[THREAT LEVEL: HIGH]
Fifteen raiders, led by a level 5 lieutenant. They were better armed than the group we'd encountered before, rifles, body armor, even what looked like explosives.
"They're here for the sword," I said. "Word must have spread that we have a legendary weapon."
"Can we fight them?" Lisa asked.
I calculated quickly. We were level 6, 4, and 3. We had skills and a legendary weapon. But fifteen against three, with rifles involved...
"Fighting is a last resort," I said. "First, we try to scare them off."
I grabbed my sword and opened the window, making myself visible in the moonlight. Stormbreaker's lightning crackled along the blade, intimidating in the darkness.
"This building is claimed!" I shouted down. "We're well-armed and high-level. You don't want this fight!"
The lieutenant stepped forward, rifle raised. "We don't care about your building! We want the legendary weapon! Hand it over, and we leave peacefully!"
"Not happening!"
"Then we take it by force!" The lieutenant gestured, and his raiders spread out, surrounding the building completely. "You've got two minutes to reconsider! After that, we're coming in!"
I pulled back from the window. "They're not backing down."
"Can we hold them off?" Maya asked.
"Maybe. This building is our Safe Zone, zombies won't spawn inside, and we've got defensive advantages. But they've got numbers and guns."
"What about calling Lucas?" Lisa suggested. "He'd help us, right?"
"He would, but he's miles away at Green Lake. By the time he got here, this would be over." I thought fast. "We need to make this fight too expensive for them. Make them realize that even if they win, they'll lose too many people."
"How?" Maya asked.
"We use the building itself. Narrow stairwells mean they can't use their numbers effectively. We set traps, create chokepoints, pick them off one by one."
"Guerrilla tactics," Maya said, understanding. "Make them bleed for every floor."
"Exactly."
We had ninety seconds before they attacked. We used every second.
Maya and I dragged furniture into the stairwells, creating barriers and obstacles. Lisa rigged tripwires using fishing line and empty cans, not deadly, but they'd create noise and confusion. I used my Crafting Basic skill to quickly fashion crude caltrops from nails and wire, scattering them on the stairs.
At exactly two minutes, the raiders attacked.
They came through the front door first, three of them with a battering ram, smashing through our reinforced locks. The door gave way, and they poured into the ground floor.
Immediately, two raiders hit our caltrops and went down screaming. The others slowed, watching their footing.
Maya and I were positioned on the second-floor landing, hidden behind overturned desks. As the raiders started up the stairs, we struck.
Maya threw a brick, not elegant, but effective. It hit the lead raider in the face, sending him tumbling backward into the others. I activated Stormbreaker's Chain Lightning, sending a bolt crackling down the stairwell.
The lightning hit three raiders, not killing them but shocking them badly enough to make them retreat.
[RAIDERS WOUNDED: 5]
[RAIDERS RETREATING: 3]
"Second floor is ours!" the lieutenant shouted from outside. "Flank them! Use the fire escape!"
I'd anticipated that. "Lisa! Fire escape window!"
Lisa was stationed at the window overlooking the fire escape. As raiders started climbing, she pushed a filing cabinet we'd positioned. It toppled down the fire escape, knocking two raiders off completely. They fell twenty feet to the parking lot, not deadly, but definitely out of the fight.
[RAIDERS INCAPACITATED: 2]
The remaining raiders regrouped. They were learning—moving more cautiously, using suppressing fire to keep us pinned.
"They're adapting," Maya said. "We can't hold them forever."
She was right. We'd taken out or wounded about half their force, but the rest were now coordinating properly. Military training showing through.
Then my Danger Sense flared urgently.
"GET DOWN!" I shouted.
We dropped flat as an explosion shook the building. The raiders had used their explosives on the stairwell wall, blowing a hole straight through to our position.
Smoke and dust filled the air. Through it, raiders poured in, four of them, including Lieutenant Torres.
Close quarters combat. My specialty.
I activated Power Strike and swung Stormbreaker in a wide arc. The enhanced blade caught two raiders across their midsections, lightning crackling through them. They dropped.
[RAIDERS KILLED: 2]
Maya engaged Torres directly, her stacked dodge abilities making her nearly impossible to hit. Her bat connected with his ribs with a sickening crack. He grunted but stayed standing, level 5 toughness.
The fourth raider aimed his rifle at me. No time to dodge.
Lisa tackled him from the side, her kitchen knife finding his throat. It was brutal, desperate, and it saved my life.
[RAIDER KILLED: 1]
Torres kicked Maya back and drew his own sword, System-bought, probably, nothing legendary but decent quality. "You're good. Better than I expected. But you're outnumbered and outgunned. Surrender the sword now, or we'll just take it from your corpse."
"You're down to seven raiders," I said, circling him with Stormbreaker ready. "Half your force. How many more are you willing to lose?"
"As many as it takes!" Torres lunged.
He was fast, level 5 speed making him a blur. But I had Danger Sense, Enhanced Reflexes from leveling up, and combat experience from two lifetimes.
I saw his strike coming, sidestepped, and countered with a precise thrust. Stormbreaker punched through his body armor and into his chest.
Lightning erupted.
Torres dropped, dead before he hit the ground.
[BOSS ENEMY KILLED: LIEUTENANT TORRES]
[POINTS EARNED: 200]
With their leader dead, the remaining raiders lost their nerve. We heard shouting from below, then running footsteps. They were retreating.
Maya ran to the window and watched them flee into the night. "They're gone. We won."
I collapsed against the wall, breathing hard. My stamina was at 45/230, dangerously low. "We won the battle. But the General's Army knows where we are now. They'll be back with more people."
"Then we need to prepare better," Lisa said. She was shaking slightly, adrenaline wearing off. "Or we need to relocate."
"Or," I said slowly, "we need allies. Real allies, not just occasional cooperation."
"You mean Lucas," Maya said.
"I mean maybe independence isn't sustainable anymore. The General's Army is organized, well-armed, and now they want us dead. We can't fight them alone."
It was a hard truth. We'd survived tonight through skill and preparation, but barely. Next time, they'd bring thirty people. Fifty. However many it took.
"Tomorrow," I said. "Tomorrow we go to Green Lake and have a real conversation with Lucas about his coalition."
Maya and Lisa both nodded. Neither looked happy about giving up our independence, but neither could argue with the logic.
We spent the rest of the night fortifying our battered defenses and taking turns on watch. Sleep was impossible anyway, adrenaline and fear keeping us wired.
At dawn on August 23rd, day seven, we packed essential supplies and locked up Cascade View.
It was still our base, our Safe Zone. But it was also compromised. We'd need backup if we wanted to keep it.
As we walked toward Green Lake, I thought about how much had changed in seven days.
The apocalypse had taken my home, my certainty, my foreknowledge. But it had also given me skills, strength, and people worth fighting for.
Maybe joining Lucas's coalition wasn't giving up independence.
Maybe it was choosing survival over pride.
Either way, we were about to find out.
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