As the messages ended, Charlotte’s parents entered the room. They’d been standing by the door without us noticing.

  “Mum, Dad,” Charlotte said, walking over to them to give them hugs. Her mother – Mary – was Irish, in her fifties, slim with a caring face that bore a few wrinkles. She had compassionate eyes, and her silver hair had been put up in a little bun. Charlotte’s father – Thomas – was English, and a few years older than Mary. He had a physique that spoke of his countless years as a builder – broad shoulders, calloused, powerful hands, and muscles across his arms that far younger men would be jealous of. Not me, of course. Certainly not me.

  Carmen and I stood, offering them the sofa, as Charlotte walked them over. There was some polite toing and froing, but we eventually managed to convince them to take the seat. Charlotte poured them some tea and sat beside them, as Carmen and I joined Kian and Kaelyn by the garden doors.

  “Check your status,” Kian said.

  I did as he asked, speaking the command.

  A screen appeared in front of me, with fairly sparse information.

  [Name: River Clarke]

  [Title: The Thief]

  [World: 666,666]

  [Race: Human]

  [Power Tier: Common]

  [Rank: D]

  [SE Coins: 231]

  [Enhancements: None]

  [Abilities: None]

  [Active Buffs: None]

  [Active Debuffs: None]

  “What do you want to know?” I asked Kian.

  “How much SE do you have?”

  “231.”

  “And you?” he looked at Carmen.

  “86,” she answered.

  “I have 110. Kaelyn has 4,400. There’s stuff in the exchange like [Improved Strength] and [Improved Durability]. Level 1 enhancements. I didn’t check too hard, don’t have the time but they all cost a bit. 100 SE minimum.”

  “But why the discrepancies in the amounts we have?” Carmen asked, more to herself than anyone else. “I don’t think we should spend anything yet anyway. Not until we know how much we get from the…USP.” I glanced at her. I’m sure she was going to say kills, but she hadn’t quite wrapped her head around that part. I hadn’t either, to be honest.

  [TIME UNTIL BATTLE BEGINS: 00:03:00]

  “I’m with Carmen,” I said. “Let’s hold off on any purchases until we understand how much we’ll gain from the USP. More to the point, as soon as this begins, I’ll have a huge target on my back with the flag. Let’s see what we’re dealing with first. With any luck, anything major will be happening away from us. Once we get a minute, I’ll see if I have the quests. I’m thinking we need to complete the defensive structures quest, so we can plant the flag, and I’m not so easy to find.”

  “Let’s get to that when the time calls for it,” Kian said. “I was thinking that Charlotte can take this corner here, and I’ll take the other one, looking out towards the front. You and Carmen between us, but looking towards the fields?”

  “Sounds okay to me.” I looked at Carmen who nodded with a look of determination.

  “I’ll do a perimeter run,” Kaelyn said. When we looked at her questioningly, she added, “I have enhancements and abilities already.” She was peering so intensely into the distance past my head, it almost made me want to look to see what she was looking at. “I can’t remember how I got them. I remember how to use them though.”

  “So, you remember all your training?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  Charlotte came over to join us, carrying the weapons and bags of ammo that we had left by the conservatory entrance. Kian quickly filled her in.

  “I’ve told mum and dad to stay inside.”

  “Actually…” Carmen said. We looked at her. “About the flag. The System said all the flags will be visible. With your parents staying inside,” Carmen said to Charlotte, “maybe they can keep an eye on the map? Maybe they’ll see where the other Champions are? Or at least, where their flags appear. Then we’ll have an idea of where the gates are, I think?”

  It made sense. The Champions were the ones who had the flag, until they planted it. Now I wondered if anyone else could grab it, or did it need the Champion too? I would need to test that later.

  “No harm in trying,” I said. “More information isn’t a bad thing. At the very least, it will tell us how far they are from us.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Charlotte left us with the weapons and went back to her parents to tell them the ask.

  “Last thing,” Kian said. “No resets.”

  “Huh?”

  “No playing. You can’t reset willy-nilly like you have been.”

  “We discussed it when you were showering,” Carmen said, taking my hands in hers. “We don’t plan on dying–”

  “And if you do?”

  “We don’t plan on it, but if we do, don’t reset without at least thinking about it. Don’t reset to bring us back. We know you probably have five left and realistically, you can only use three, maybe four at a stretch. Just don’t use it because you want to bring us back. The fate of the Earth lies with you. If we lose you, we’re all done.”

  “And what would be the point of living without you guys?”

  “The same point as living without your mum,” Kian said, eyes focused on me. His words hit hard. “To honour us and live the fullest life you can for the sacrifice we made for you. Listen, I love you, bro. You know that. I love that you have my back. You always have. But some things are bigger than what we want. This is one of them. Don’t waste the resets. We’re all sacrificing people to be here with you. Because we believe in you. Because we need to be by your side. Don’t make it all for nothing.”

  I looked at each of them, as Charlotte joined us. Kaelyn shrugged at me. “It’s not my concern.”

  [TIME UNTIL BATTLE BEGINS: 00:01:00]

  “Do me a favour,” I said to Kaelyn, putting my finger out. “If you could just prick me a little with that knife of yours.” The others raised their eyebrows. Carmen had a look of exasperation on her face. “I won’t use the resets so brazenly again. But this is a good moment to set the reset point, wouldn’t you agree?”

  I did agree with them about not using the resets without giving it some thought, but at the same time, they weren’t the ones who had had to see their dead bodies. I wasn’t about to promise anything. Luckily for now, what was best for Earth was to keep me – and by extension, my friends – alive. Hopefully, people would recognise that. Whatever was coming, we needed to band together.

  Kaelyn did as asked, and I touched the cut finger to the gem. We got our weapons and headed to our positions.

  “Let’s lock and load.”

  I’ve always wanted to say that.

  ***

  A good twenty minutes had passed since the battle began at 3 am in the morning. Exactly twenty-four hours since the System had first begun to initialise.

  One day had passed since I’d been driving home in the gnome-mobile and hit Kaelyn when she came out of nowhere. One day since I’d made the decision to take her home instead of calling the police and ambulance. One day since I’d touched the gem with my cut finger and began this whole thing.

  Would I have done things differently, knowing what I do now? I don’t know, you know. I don’t really think about the past in that way. What’s happened has happened. How do we make the best of it? That’s how I think things through. Sure, it’s a bitch to be in the situation I was in, but what was I to do? Curl up and cry about it? Or make it clear to everyone – my world, the other worlds, USPSM, the Pantheon – that they shouldn’t underestimate me. I always played against the odds.

  I looked out over the garden and towards the distance. There was a slight chill in the air, and it was quiet. Still. Very little was happening in our tiny corner of the world. Kian and Charlotte had taken up their positions as discussed, Charlotte by the conservatory, Kian on the opposite corner, twenty or so metres between them. Carmen and I stood further out into the garden, a little closer to each other, but still a fair distance apart.

  All the lights of the home had been turned off, except the motion-detecting external ones that bathed the patio in light. We’d been each staring off into our assigned corners, looking for any movement or anything coming towards us. Kaelyn had been out there for just as long but hadn’t returned yet.

  I’d been thrilled as we’d walked out into the garden earlier. I was ever so slightly excited by what was happening. Oh, don’t get me wrong - I’m no masochist, but this was a little like my gambling. The odds might be overwhelming, and I was almost certain to lose but maybe, just maybe, I could pull it off. Maybe my numbers would come in this time.

  I know it sounded crazy but think about it. Imagine you spent your days checking spreadsheets, lining up formulas, trying to find the cell where something was wrong. Exactly – it’s as boring as it sounds. But now? Now, I was surrounded by those I love, about to battle for the fate of the Earth. I felt a slight tingle in my spine. And I could die at least five times. Enough to be useful, not enough to be wasteful. Especially with the aging downside.

  But having been out here for twenty minutes, with absolute jack shit happening, the novelty had worn off. Being under the covers, in a warm bed, getting some shut-eye would have been infinitely more preferable. Instead, I was staring into blackness, assault rifle in hand, a cup of tea on the ground at one side, a bag with ammo on the other and a cig in my mouth. I held back a yawn, glancing towards the others, who seemed equally as bored as I was.

  “What’s that?” Carmen said, pointing out into the blackness. Okay, maybe they were more attentive than me. The other two briefly glanced around but went back to monitoring their side. I tried to follow where Carmen was pointing to, but all I saw was almost-black ground that turned to a lighter shade where it met the sky.

  “I’m not seeing anything, babe.”

  “Just focus,” she replied. With a sigh, I concentrated on the distance, focusing on a spot on the horizon, waiting for my vision to adjust. After a few moments, I still hadn’t seen anything. I wondered if Carmen’s eyesight was slowly deteriorating. Maybe I needed to get her to an opt–

  No. There. The faintest of silhouettes against the slightly lighter shade of the sky. I could only see it because it looked like an uneven mound of dirt popping its head above the horizon, the thin black outline just about visible from the ambient light in the air. Then I noticed another. And another. I glanced to my quarter of the field. Was it my eyes playing tricks on me? But I saw nothing on my side. I flicked back to Carmen’s.

  “Well,” I heard Kian say behind me.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “It seems like something’s there but could just be our eyes playing tricks.”

  “No, there’s definitely something there,” Carmen said, and I had to agree. Those silhouettes were becoming larger. Definitely something coming towards us. Several somethings. Then I caught a flash of what looked like two golden diamonds on their sides, hovering in the air. My eyes darted around the surrounding area where I’d seen it and here and there, more flashes of golden diamonds. They looked the way cats’ eyes did when they caught the flash of a camera.

  “….uuuun.” That was Kaelyn’s voice, but I couldn’t see her at all. Not even a silhouette, but it was definitely her. Coming from the same direction as the shadows that were getting closer. Then the golden diamonds appeared more prominently. Several of them. I spat my cigarette out.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. All of you – inside now,” I screamed at the other three. “Go, go, go.” I hoisted my ammo bag to my shoulder and glanced towards Carmen. She was a little panicked, but she’d grabbed her bag and began running. I followed after her. Charlotte was already inside. Kian was the furthest away.

  I got to the doors at the same time as Carmen and pushed her inside as I watched Kian running, still a few metres away. I glanced over my shoulder. I could make out the fur and the outline of the snouts, and the drool that caressed the bared canines as it dropped to the floor. As soon as Kian made it, I shoved him inside and screamed at Charlotte and Carmen.

  “Get them and get upstairs now. Take the ammo.” They followed orders, grabbing Charlotte’s parents and heading through the kitchen. Trust. That’s how we worked as a team. We trusted each other. I turned to Kian, who was bent over, breathing heavily.

  “What the fuck is it, bro?”

  I looked him in the eye. “Have you ever wondered whether you’d want to fight a wolf-sized horse or a hundred horse-sized wolves?”