People always thought the end would come from war or disease, maybe some global economic collapse. Who would have thought the end would be caused by something from a video game.I awoke with a start, my head pounding and a shrill noise blaring in my head that seemed to permeate every bit of my being echoing throughout my body. The noise appeared to have no direct source that I could discern.This is not what I had expected when I went camping in the Northwoods, well more like glamping since there were bathrooms and electricity but hey it was nice just to get away from the city, and my job if only temporarily. I only came up here for a quick weekend retreat to avoid people as it was earlier in the season than most people came camping and the campgrounds were empty of any other campers.I rolled over in my tent and vomited the remains of my supper on the floor as I clutched my throbbing head trying to will the world to stop spinning. It felt like I had gone on an all-day bender and this

I jogged down the side of the road. The office had been a bust, nothing but a few filing cabinets and refrigerated food. None of which would do me any good, I had been hoping for some dry foods, or canned goods to help round out my meager supplies. Oh well, I was making good time and should be able to make it into the nearest town within 2 days if I could keep up this pace and I wasn't attacked.The road made for an easy run and I remembered reading that trained soldiers could make 20 miles a day on a march. Well, I sure as hell wasn't a soldier, trained or otherwise, and had no intention of running myself ragged., setting an easy 10 to 12-mile pace, mainly because I wanted to get into the town early tomorrow. I also needed to find a safe place to set up for the night. After about 10 minutes I made it to the main road heading south towards my destination.Looking up and down the road I could see quite a distance, the land was relatively flat in this area of the state and I didn't see

It didn't take me more than 10 minutes to find the dungeon, or lair, or whatever it was. The smell is what led me to it. I watched, crouched low over a hill a few hundred feet away. There were about seven of the stinky green things milling about outside of a rock outcropping with a large cave entrance."I should have taken a stealth character or a ranged class," I mumbled to myself, "Well no pain no gain," I said, backing down the little hill. I wanted to test my new skills out, and although, I didn't know the goblin levels they looked exactly like the ones I killed earlier. If that was the case I would continue into the cave. If they were significantly higher level or more numerous than I thought I could handle I would run.I checked the time of day from the position of the sun learning about how to do it from some nature show, seemed to be around early afternoon. That gave me three or four hours before dusk, plenty of time. Heck, even the sun was in my favor coming from my back as I

I managed to make it to a two-story farmhouse, the front door closed but unlocked. I looked back realizing I had maybe a few minutes before the creatures caught up to me. They seemed to have endless stamina, but I was huffing and puffing by this point, the run through the muddy field having sapped away a lot of my strength. I came up with a quick plan as I ran into the house. On my way towards the house, I spotted a cellar door around back. If it was operable my plan should work.I blocked the front door with some furniture. It wouldn't hold long but it should buy me some time. I ran around the first floor until I found the basement. Peering down from the top I saw a few wooden beams holding up the first floor and I could see the cellar stairs on the far side. Just then I heard pounding on the front door. I rushed down the stairs to the exterior door. It was only held closed by a bolt and easily swung open. Just then I heard the front door shatter and the creature's feet pounding on t

Meanwhile, on the other end of town, a bloody fight had just ended. Spent casings littered the ground."You.. you can't do this," The Officer said through gasping breaths, his lungs filling with blood. They had managed to save over fifteen hundred people from the monsters before they were forced to take refuge at the High School. They thought they were safe, but they had become a buffet for the true degenerates among humanity.A small woman walked up to the dying officer and smiled, "I can do anything I want," she said, pointing at the dying man, a glow on her finger.She had finished off the last remaining officer, it was now time to power level the rabble, what little she had gathered in this podunk little town. They had already shipped off over five-hundred of the surviving populace south. Unfortunately, for the rest of the survivors, they were out of collars. She expected at least a quarter of the slaves would survive their trip. It hardly mattered, there was always more. She watc