Apocalypse respawn

The goblins had already surrounded and prevented food from passing through for a few days. People, seeing their meager portions, grumbled but dared not venture out.

One morning, Rargnes was awakened by a frantic man speaking rapidly. The man reeked of cheap alcohol.

"We need to go; we can't stay like this anymore," said the man. "Grab your knife and follow me!" he spoke clumsily.

Rargnes also wanted to go. But one should never surpass their masters. Still, he tried to see the good in them.

This was someone who was so determined to live, make others live, and have enough food for the small group he belonged to, a group of five, that he risked things.

Yes, risking. Who was foolish enough to disrespect their masters? Even if an idea was good, it would attack their chief's ego, putting them in danger. Because then, they would take a central place within the group and threaten their powers.

He was a kind man, a generous fool. He really wanted to find positive adjectives, but failing to realize that it would affect his group's lives even more was foolish. The man fought because that was all he knew.

Was it merit and effort? He had not tried to politicize. No matter how hard he worked, it wasn't an effort if the work wasn't challenging. He did the same thing he knew, the very thing his genetics made him learn. Great! He never questioned himself. He followed what his genetic pattern ordered him to do.

It told him: "Be good, be kind."

But this pattern was only good for the group as long as humans shared it. That's why anger was always present, even though it served no purpose. It killed the danger for the group, making it impossible to go beyond a specific limit. Then there was technology. He was just a fool manipulated.

"What to do?" thought Rargnes. He looked towards the interior of the police station where the two officers were. "Well, I'm overthinking it."

He wouldn't do anything. Yes, that made sense as long as he respected his plan. So, he would buy some time.

The other man came back to him. "Are you ready?"

Rargnes said, "Yes, yes, just a moment." He genuinely finds it essential to respond to the man.

"Alright, hurry up."

The next time, he said, "Wait, I need a knife."

One was handed to him.

"But I need to inform Sengrar. With his strength, it will be easier."

With the excuses his brain made for him, he gained enough time. It was easy. All he said, he believed it to be true, and thus, it worked.

When someone is forced to do something, don't expect them to do their best. He raised his voice, and the police officers barged in.

"What are you doing?" one of them said.

"We need food."

The officer thought and said, "Maybe, but don't pierce the wall! We won't be able to put a ladder back!" 

The group left without Rargnes, who went to Sengrar and told him to stay.

"Come on, let's stay."

"Why?"

"Because only fools go first. They're either passionate about the bottle or whatever else they've been fed. You have to follow those who are leading best and only then start leading once the position is right."

Even though he had superior experience, he had no physique to stop firearm blows. In times of war, anything was possible.

He would gain energy by killing anyway. Why rush? Oh, someone was going to gather all the energy? As if that were possible. Even if someone obtained so much energy, they would rather kill those with a lot o energy —if it could be obtained from humans. In any case, it would be better to kill the strongest. You were more at risk from stress and assassination if you were fiftly rich.

And his sole goal was to survive. He just needed to be around the right people, a step or two above average.

Sengrar nodded, and they joined the police officers. Now, only about fifty people crowded the place.

"Good riddance!" said one of the officers, pulling out his pistol. "If they dare to come back without food!"

They watched from afar as the group gathered food, their eyes full of joy until an arrow pierced a person from behind. The person cried out in pain, and the group scattered in all directions, panicked.

Humans and goblins chased and killed them. They took no hostages.

"Do they gain energy by killing us this round?" wondered Rargnes. Then he stressed. Wouldn't ending up enslaved during the tutorial be better than risking dying?

Unfortunately, he had to discover why the world kept recreating itself.

Even from afar, the sight and screams of agony terrified Rargnes and the group. The smell came shortly after when they threw pieces of corpses over the walls.

The rest had been chopped into small pieces for the dogs accompanying the humans from the other world.

Fortunately, none of them seemed to be a mage among them.

They returned a second time, with goblins throwing an arm over the wall that hit Sengrar.

Furious, he barked and spun his scepter, conjuring an orb that he crashed onto the goblin's head, killing it.

He repeated, massacring three of the four goblins ordered to throw.

These goblins - Rargnes noticed - were particularly weak and seemed in no way willing to be here.

Surely, they were goblins who couldn't convince themselves of the goodness of the masters who whipped them in the fields and whose inability to flatter left their flesh bare.

"Oh, colossal! Can you do magic?" asked the surprised policeman. "Are you not one of them?"

His physique resembled medieval humans who had developed pure energy over the years, causing their bodies to grow and swell.

"He was in the bar with me before the apocalypse," Rargnes immediately said.

"Oh, you know... we can't tell for sure. They might as well teleport us, so they teleport themselves... Did you see him before the apocalypse?"

"Uh, no, but I think I had glimpsed him?"

"You think. We don't care what you think." He turned to Sengrar and pointed his pistol. "How did you do it? Spit it out, or I'll shoot."

"Damn," thought Rargnes. He backed away to be behind the policeman. He looked around. The other officer was in the station, still sleeping.

The stress rose. He didn't want to. God, he didn't want to! But they were close. They were together. Even if they weren't, they had to be. Because a group includes all its members. Since he had been inserted there by people's vision, he would be forced to stay with his. It would be much harder to separate from the latter.