Chapter 14 - Bring the Fight to Them

Rynold yelled at Oliver to get up and hurried out of the room. He yelled for Jack and Skye to get up too while stretching.

"Get up! We're gonna get killed if you guys don't get UP!"

He withdrew the weapons from his inventory and threw the sniper rifle to Jack, saying, "you want to join us? Then make yourself useful."

Cracking his knuckles, Rynold pulled open the door and decided to think of a way to fight the swarm of spiders. Only to realize that these spiders shouldn't be out here.

Being territorial creatures, spiders don't attack unless provoked so it didn't make sense for them to expand their territory — unless...

"Hey!" he yelled to Jack. "Are there any reports that spiders are starting to hunt outside of their territory?"

"No!" surprised, Jack stepped back. "It's only been a day since the whole New World thing came out and we have no reports on this."

"Then what do you know?" Rynold was fuming, he stepped into where Jack was standing.

Jack once again stepped back, "just the things that I told you last night!"

'Tsk.'

Rynold didn't know what to do since leaving the house wasn't even an option worth considering. They would only be fodder when they leave the house so the only option was to actually go up to the roof.

Closing the door with a loud slam, Rynold sprinted to the stairs and told the others to follow suit. It was intense considering they were the only ones who are currently on the block.

Rynold kicked the door that leads to the roof since it was locked. Crouching, he went to the metal railing that was on the ledge of the roof and looked down.

'Damn.'

The cluster of spiders was terrifying to look at because of the sheer numbers that they had. If they had left the house, they would be undoubtedly overwhelmed.

Still crouching, Rynold hoped that they wouldn't get spotted since the spiders relied on their sight rather than their sense of smell. Out of sight, out of mind.

While waiting for the spider drone cluster to pass, Rynold looked at the group to check up on them. Oliver had an unrelenting gaze while Skye was looking like she had just woken up. Meanwhile, Jack was holding his sniper rifle close, ready to put up his weapon the moment that the spiders see them. Elle, on the other hand, was just trying to avoid Rynold's gaze.

After a few moments of watching the cluster of spiders move through the block, Rynold finally let out a sigh. He stood up and, with a determined gaze, spoke.

"We're gonna go kill the spider queen."

Expressions of confusion and surprise managed to rise from the group's faces with Jack having a very enthusiastic expression among them.

"Let me explain," Rynold coughed to ease the anxiousness of the group. "The spider drones are out of the nest meaning the nest should be a lot less fortified. We can attack now and gain an advantage."

Oliver nodded at the suggestion while both Elle and Skye were still confused.

Elle then spoke with a confused tone, "are you insane? We can't go kill anything all willy nilly. We won't live that long if we do that. Besides, who the fuck is that guy."

This, definitely, wasn't one of the things that Rynold wanted to deal with so early in the morning.

"Calm down," Rynold replied, letting out a regretful sigh. "You guys don't have to come with us, this is strictly optional. This guy you're being snarky to is Jack."

Rynold explained Jack's situation and emphasized the fact that he wanted to join the group.

Elle rolled her eyes at the explanation and moved back inside the house, deeming it safe from the problem before. While Oliver and Skye considered their options.

"I don't think I should go," Skye said with a solemn expression. She knew that she would only be a burden when in combat, seeing as how she wasn't as strong as Rynold or Oliver.

Oliver was still in the middle of pondering whether or not he should go. He saw Skye's gaze filled with worry that made his decision a lot more complicated than it should be.

"I'm staying with them. They're gonna need protection anyway so might as well leave it with the best," Oliver said with a strong air of confidence around him.

"Okay. Okay," Rynold chuckled. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do when I'm gone. Also, try and scout the area and see if you could find anything of use. Stuff like a car that both of us can drive would be pretty useful."

Rynold checked his gear and tossed some things that he got from the convenience store that made him gain the status [Slighty Encumbered]. He needed to be in tip-top shape for the fight.

Jack, on the other hand, was excited to go out on his first adventure in the New World. He definitely didn't know what he was in for.

Rynold opened the door and left the house, leaving the three of them with a simple instruction.

"Don't die."

He didn't need to leave some sappy statement of him not coming back. That would only make them worry more and make Rynold not go hunt who knows what.

Jack followed Rynold as he flung the sniper rifle once again over his shoulder.

Walking in the direction where the cluster of spider drones came from, Rynold and Jack were having a casual conversation to ease the mood. That was until Rynold said something he shouldn't have.

"You know we could've just said no and kicked you out of the house, right? You already told me everything that you know."

"N-no I haven't," Jack stammered in response.

"Yeah?" Rynold raised an eyebrow. "You can't possibly know anything else since it's only been a day since the end of the world. Apart from basic knowledge, I highly doubt that you know anything else."

Jack sighed at the skeptical response that Rynold said, "I guess the cat's out of the bag, huh?"

Chuckling like it didn't matter if he dug deeper, Rynold soon reached the backyard of the house that leads to the forest. The place where he first saw the spider drones.

"You ready?" Rynold asked the young soldier.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Jack was checking his gun for a few final spot checks. He then stretched to get limber for the following fight.

Meanwhile, Rynold held out his hand, ready to summon his Mech Knight once again only to stop to realize that it might be better to sneak in first rather than go all out from the start.

He told Jack his plan of action and decidedly not to summon X until a very critical moment.

Both of the young men headed into the direction where the spider drones came from only to find themselves in a thick forest. Large trees and numerous species of flora surrounded them until they spotted what looked like a small cave entrance.

It was around the exact same height that the spider drones were but it was amicably wider to consider the size of the cluster.

Ducking, Rynold and Jack found themselves deeper and deeper into the ground with no light. Luckily, Jack had prepared a flashlight as part of standard military gear but it's a bit small for the size of the cave.

With no other choice, they turned on the flashlight only to find spider eggs dotted around the cave.

They kept moving forward, trying hard to not attract attention to themselves and avoiding the spider eggs. Rynold clenched his fist due to the tension that surrounded them as they moved deeper and deeper into the cave.

Since spiders also use the vibrations felt by their legs to sense any prey that would be stuck to a web, light wasn't needed to avoid any sort of predator in a dark cave such as this one.

Keeping that in mind, Rynold took the vanguard and slowly made his way through the cave until they spotted what looked like a massive room with a skylight.

Stopping to check what's inside, Rynold stopped dead in his tracks, making Jack bump onto him ever so lightly.

"Ow!" Jack whispered with a slight tone of pain.

"Shh!!" Rynold hushed in response. "Look there."

Rynold pointed at a huge spider that looked like it was sleeping and, for lack of a better word, fat.

Rynold continued, "looks like the spiders change their habits because of the mutation from the red rain."

Eager to take a shot, Jack hoisted his sniper rifle off his back and laid prone on the ground, ready to pull the trigger.

"Wait!" Rynold said with a smirk unseen because of the dark cave. "I have a better idea."

Rynold walked straight into the room and stepped silently and quietly towards the sleeping spider. He secretly wished he had Oliver's dagger right now since it would definitely help in sneaking up on the unaware.

Regardless, Rynold held out his hand and pointed up on top of the sleeping spider like extending his hope if this plan could work.

'Summon Mech Knight.'