Once we woke up, we got ready to head out. We still had some rations and for today, that was going to be our meal. Mostly because the village seemed to be struggling enough by itself and it didn't feel right to take advantage of that. Still, there was another reason for our rush. The fact that Pamela was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, she just realized that complaining wouldn't get her anywhere and started to look for something to do in the village.
But since there was some food missing from our supplies, I thought that wasn't really the case. If she really was going to try to live here without causing any problems, she would have to start behaving like the people who live in this village. Either way, that was her problem, not mine.
After a quick meal and stop in one of the bathrooms that allowed us to even take showers, we grabbed our bags and headed out. Michael suggested for us to leave our belongings behind but he was being a bit too trusting. We didn't know the people from this village. And there was a chance that they would try to steal from us if we were to just leave everything behind in the house.
Before anything else, we also stopped by the house where the hunters were gathering. Michael and I ended up becoming somewhat friendly with a couple of them and we were going to take that opportunity to double check if there was anything we needed to know about the ruined city. Luckily for us, Conrad wasn't even there, which gave us a bit more leeway to talk to the people who knew more about our destination. The conversations didn't last very long because most of what we discovered, we discovered on the previous day. Especially the likely location of the coyotes and the frogs. Ants were more of an issue, since they would show up pretty much anywhere. As long as there was a passage to the underground, they could be around.
In the end, our stop at the Hunter's Den, as we were calling it, was mostly a waste. The only thing we came to learn was that the Thunder Hoof was close to the village, and it was likely that we would see it as we headed into the city. And to their credit, the hunters were very right about their assumptions.
10 minutes after we left the village, we encountered a large moose roaming the area. It had a dark brown fur but its horns were a different shade. A very deep blue, almost black, and once the sun hit it just right, they would shine with a strange yellow glow. The monster stared at us as we passed by while chewing on some grass. It was wild to think that a creature that big, which was almost twice the size of Astrid, was able to sustain itself by eating grass the entire time. And yet, that was the case.
And even though the hunters said that we shouldn't mess with it, I couldn't help but check one small thing.
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Thunder Hoof - Tier 2
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This monster was at least as strong as the Ice Devil. Maybe even as strong as the Emperor Flathead. But something told me he was even stronger. Or at least that it would be even trickier to kill it. There was a semblance of intelligence in its eyes. And intelligent creatures would be several times harder to deal with than wild beasts.
We moved away from the creature, making sure to keep an eye on its movements while it seemed to be doing the same to us. Staring in our direction and waiting to see if we were going to threaten it in any way. Once we cleared its area, we continued heading into the ruined city.
But Michael seemed to be completely oblivious about anything, while Astrid and I were able to notice how the Thunder Hoof continued to follow us, keeping a safe distance while we traveled. I was a bit worried at first, but at the same time it wasn't as much of an issue. The creature was just making sure that we were not trying to do anything wrong within its territory. And honestly, I could respect that. It would likely be the case that the monster wouldn't do anything to us as long as we didn't show any hostility towards it or whatever it was protecting.
About 20 minutes later, the Thunder Hoof stopped following us as we entered the city proper. The entire place was in shambles. The buildings were mostly destroyed and the ones that were standing were doing so by sheer will, if that was even possible. It seemed like the outskirts of Spokane took the worst damage during whatever caused this place to become what it is now.
It was a bit hard to tell what actually happened here. There were some telltale signs of explosions and destruction likely caused by the old world armies fighting against the Eaters, but there were a lot of areas that didn't seem to be exactly like that either. Places where the destruction felt less indiscriminate. As if whatever was causing those cracks and craters was smaller and aiming at something more specific. My best guess was monsters, but there was still something bugging me about this place. Something in the corner of my mind that told me I wasn't able to see the full picture.
Still, we continued moving, hoping to find either the monsters or something that could show us where they were. More specifically, a building that was still standing up. Which seemed to be harder than I was expecting. The city was a really big mess. Most of it had been destroyed with rubble literally everywhere. We heard sounds of monsters in the distance and did our best to not attract attention while we were walking across the city.
There were a few sounds that started to worry us every time we approached one of the sewer entrances. Even the manhole covers were making that noise. That skittering and crackling sound that gave all of us pause. Still, nothing came out of it. No monster or person jumped out of those sewers and tried to attack us. It seemed like the creatures that lived there were just living there. They either didn't have any interest in coming out or were just busy with other things. Alternatively, the ants might be big enough that they wouldn't be able to climb those manhole covers, but that didn't really justify why they wouldn't be able to leave from the larger structures.
Still, after a while, we were able to find a building that was still standing. An honest to God building with actually eight floors. Or at least, that was how many windows I was counting from the outside. I don't remember if the people from the old world used to count the floor where the entrance was as one or just the ground floor. Pops had mentioned that at some point, but honestly, it had been a long time ago.
Michael was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of going to the top of a building while Astrid and I couldn't wait to do that. Even if this thing was in ruins, it was still standing up and we did believe that it wasn't the weight of the three of us that would be enough to cause it to collapse. Especially since most of the walls were still standing up just fine. There were no massive cracks alongside them or anything that could show that the place was about to come crashing down. Astrid even tried pushing on a particularly weak looking pillar to see if it would shift or anything, but it was solid. Standing up just as it did for the past 50 plus years.
We walked to the side where there was a fire exit and slowly made our way up to the roof. It was strange to walk in a place like this. A place that once was so full of life and filled with people moving back and forth doing whatever they were supposed to be doing in a place like this. The structure didn't seem to be residential but instead more like an office space. At least that's what I was assuming. I only knew places like this from TV shows and movie. Those artificial sets were not exactly the best way to parallel for real life.
Just like books were not always truthful for good comparisons with whatever was happening. For once, if this was a book, there would already be a hero of some sort. Someone who is willing to fight off all these Eaters and succeeded in doing so before they were able to destroy the entire world. Yet here we were. In the ruins of a civilization that was supposed to be so mighty that nothing on the planet could threaten it. I guess competition really drives people forward and the lack of it makes us stale.
I was lost in those philosophical thoughts and barely noticed that we had arrived at the last door of the stairwell. Astrid pushed it open, revealing the roof of this building. It was just the 8th floor, which, according to what I knew, was a small building, but still the view was incredible. The sunlight was covering everything and we could see for kilometers and kilometers. It felt like I was standing on top of a mountain, but it wasn't. It was a structure made by people.
Human hands built this, and I couldn't help but gasp in awe at the existence of something like this. Even if it required machinery or advanced technology in order to reach this point, it didn't change the fact that we had created this. Something that could rival a mountain.
I continued to stare, basking in the weight of what laid under my feet, both figuratively and literally, and Astrid seemed to be having a similar reaction to that. Both of us were just taking in everything that had been done by those who came before us. Everything that was lost and everything that might one day return to our power. But Michael wasn't as entertained as we were. He still gave us a few moments before coughing out loud.
"Okay, so can we go now? Is there anything else you need to do here, or was it just that?"
Not wanting to keep my companion waiting for too long, I walked closer to the edge, making sure to keep a few steps away from it. The last thing I wanted was to fall down and die because of that.
"I am just appreciating what our ancestors did. But we can use this to look around the city. Maybe we can find the coyotes and the frogs from up here."
Just as I said those words, I noticed the large buildings that were covered in that strange yellow and blue gooey structure. And from this angle, that looked even weirder. At first I thought it was just something like a paint covering the concrete, but it was more of a strand. A thin layer that was still thick enough to have some dimension to it but not enough to be sticking out like a sore thumb. More than that, there were strange round protrusions around the formation. And I couldn't put my finger around what they were. That is until Astrid spoke up.
"Eggs?"
I turned to the Frosted Lumberjack. "Eggs? Oh shit, do you mean frog eggs?"
Astrid just nodded, and Michael stared at her with a look of surprise and admiration.
"Damn, you're right. I really didn't think about it but those look like that. But don't frogs just take a few weeks to reproduce?"
"Yes," I said, realizing where he was going with this. "At the same time, the people from the village did mention that those strange formations had been here for a while. Maybe since those were monster frogs, the time it took them to reproduce changes."
I shared my theory, and the Improvised Archer seemed to agree with me. But we were still a bit worried about the situation. If that many frogs were to simply pop out and start attacking, it would be hard for the village to survive. But our worry quickly vanished once we noticed another thing.
Near the area of that blue and yellow formation, there were a few frogs fighting some large ants. The insects moved towards the amphibians who kept fighting back, eating them one by one without delay, but the numbers were too big. Eventually, the ants were able to break through the defensive formation and reach the eggs. Each ant grabbed one and rushed back to the holes in the ground. The frogs did their best to kill the ants, but the difference in numbers was too big, even if the amphibians were clearly more powerful.
Which made something click in my mind. The reason why the ants were not bothering the village is because they had an ample source of food here and so did the frogs. While trying to protect the eggs, the frogs were also having a very fulfilling meal by devouring all of those ants. Basically, it meant that the ants became the food for the frogs and fed them enough so they could reproduce and lay more eggs. Eggs that in turn would be taken by the ants so they could lay more of their own eggs to become more numerous and come back. And then the frogs could continue eating them while keeping the population in check.
Which means that they were in a unique balance in the ecosystem. And while helping get rid of the frogs and possibly the king frog could be beneficial to the village, it would also make the ants be able to grow unimpeded. And between a massive swarm of frogs and a massive swarm of ants, I would put money that the ants would be harder to deal with. Just by the sheer numbers of them. Frogs, at least, wouldn't have the same hive mind mentality as the insects would.
In the end, there was nothing we could do about those two groups. They had to stay the way they were unless we wanted the village to have to deal with something even more dangerous. It sucked, but that was the reality of it.
And then came the next option for us to hunt. The coyotes that were on the other side of the ruined city. I thought that we wouldn't be able to see them from here, but pretty quickly, it became clear that wasn't the case. They were not in the city itself, but in one of the hills beyond it.
Just looking towards us.
As a matter of fact, it wasn't just in our general direction, but two of the coyotes, the bigger ones that were almost the size of horses, seemed to be staring directly at us. Almost as if they knew that we were going after them. But then again, I was likely just paranoid. The reason why they could be staring was just that they saw something different. And you don't need to be that intelligent to have a reaction to a presence.
I pointed at them, showing them to my companions, both who nodded and moved to get a better look.
"Do you think you can try to kill them from here?" Michael asked, preparing an arrow made with some rebar that he found while we were crossing the city.
"I mean, it's not that I don't trust you, but I think that will be a very hard shot to make. You're free to try, though."
I watched him notch the rebar on the bow start aiming, slowly moving his arms to point at the sky. But eventually he gave up.
"Yeah, they're too far away. That should be what? 3 miles [4.8 km]?"
"I think that's more likely to be three or four kilometers [1.8-2.4 miles]," I added.
Michael frowned. "Wait, what?" His eyes flickered with understanding. And I assumed his System translated the distance. "Wait, why are you using kilometers? The United States used to use miles."
I just shook my head. "Because miles don't make a lick of sense. I get that people use it, but I'm not going to. I rather use some more definitive measurements."
Michael just shook his head. "You know, my dad kind of warned me about people like you. He always said that if someone doesn't accept even that miles are the things we use, they're nothing but trouble."
I just smiled. "I'm not going to say he was wrong, but I still keep my opinion. Meters and the metric system is just better than imperial."
Michael just chuckled. "Nothing but trouble."
Astrid laughed along. And with that, we started heading out, heading back down from the building. We had found our target, and it was now time to hunt them.