19

I leaned up, and kind of came back alive after hours of leaning on the window. I watched as the people in the car became incredibly nervous. They were afraid of what might be hiding away just out of sight. We pulled into the smaller Food pavilion store to go through it first. I stepped out of the car once someone pulled the seat forward so I could get out. 

I strung my bow, and readied myself for the fight that was coming. My muscles tensed involuntarily. Arlington was a small town, and chances are that the spiders from the bigger store had migrated this direction after two weeks. Especially if there was no food for them to eat over there. Then again they might not have come this way. 

They might have moved out of town entirely. There was no way to know until we confronted them directly. I didn't care. I was all in on killing each, and every one with my bare hands if I needed to. My intent was to break down that countdown as fast as I could. 

If it affected my personality then so be it. I frowned to myself as I walked toward the store. Scanning our surroundings carefully. That nagging feeling hadn't gone away yet. I still felt like something was going to go wrong. 

There was something dangerous in Arlington. I could almost feel chaos radiating off the town. This was my old stomping grounds. I knew it better then most of the people in this group. 

"We should hit a few houses when we're done here," I advised, "Housing in Arlington is expensive so the people that can afford to buy a house here should have enough money to waste. Money to waste means extra food, and other goods we should be able to use."

"I agree," one of the men looked at me. 

"I don't," Boss boy snapped, "The stores are our best option."

"The other store was full of giant spiders with human heads the last time I was there," I nocked an arrow on my bowstring, "Two weeks is a good amount of time for them to adapt, and evolve. Either they cleared out since I last saw them or they battened down the hatches. They're dangerous, and there's a good possibility they're even stronger then the last time I saw them."

"Bigger score bigger risks," boss boy snapped, "We have enough food for two weeks at best. We can't afford to fuck around out here. We need to bring in some big gains as quickly as possible. That means hitting the stores first."

I disagreed, but boss boy had his father's backing so there was no point in arguing with him right now. The others saw his side of the argument more then they saw mine. Their thoughts were clouded, and they wouldn't see my side of this until that control was broken. I couldn't even detect what kind of spell he was using on people to make them see him in a favorable light. It had to be some sort of charm spell. 

That was the only thing that made sense. No matter how I thought about it. What class would grant someone the ability to charm so easily? What class did he have? If I could figure that out then I'd be able to counter it. 

I ground my teeth as we headed toward the store. I was ready for the attack that was coming. They were not. The monster jumped at us from the perch it had made on the roof. They barely had time to take it in before a flaming arrow slammed into it. 

The flames erupted from the creature. Searing it as it ran around in circles. Screaming at the top of it's lungs. The damn thing resembled a gremlin from that old movie. There were a dozen more just waiting for their buddy to succeed. 

They started laughing as their buddy burned. I aimed an arrow their way next. They scrambled away from the direction I was aiming. They were laughing as they sprinted around on the roof. Staying just out of my line of fire as they worked their way toward us. I decided to take a page from their book. 

Lowering my bow, and pointing at the dead flaming corpse of their buddy to laugh aloud. They stopped when I lowered my bow, and looked at me when I laughed. 

"What's the matter?" I laughed at their stunned expressions, "Not so funny when you're on the receiving end is it?"

I kept on laughing like they were the funniest joke in the world. They weren't laughing anymore. Their faces screwed up into little snarls, and they started growling one by one. I found actual humor in their anger. There was one that was bigger then the others. 

He pointed at me. Spitting out a single word. 

"Gaah," He shouted. 

It didn't make sense to me, but it made sense to his subordinates. They all rushed towards me in a group, and that just ignited that psychotic joy in me. I dropped my bow as I drew my dagger. Rushing into the fray with little to no hesitation. My fake laughter changed from fake to real psychotic joy. 

The gremlin like creatures didn't stand much of a chance, and being surrounded just brought me more joy. A second dagger was the only thing that would make this whole scenario even more fun. These little monsters were level two at most. It was almost as if I was punching a baby in their crib. Only these babies would bite, and spit on me while trying to claw my eyes out. 

I was far too strong for these little imps to deal with. The imps screamed at me as I killed them happily. Slashing deep into their bodies with my dagger in one hand, and crushing them physically with my other hand. My physical strength was more then enough for me to eradicate them with ease. I was also faster then them.