Post-Apocalyptic Survivor in Another World: New Beginning

Joseph yawned as he copied more words into the empty book Prolo had given him. It had been about a month now since he’d arrived in Faenor, and he hadn’t left this field since he had driven Betty into it. Autumn was still going strong, though the treetops were beginning to have less leaves than the ground beneath them. Winter would be coming soon to Faenor, at least if its rotation was the same as Earth’s. There had been more curious travelers after that first pair, and he had to do the same thing to them, scaring them and periodically driving away before being able to get more work done.

His schedule had been strictly spent studying, repairing Betty, and scaring off strangers. All in all, it was pretty enjoyable. Reminded him of the old days, when he had been stockpiling books to read in his spare time when things weren’t out to kill him. He had learned so much from those old books, and they still sat within a sealed glass shelf, ready to read again if he so desired. Those books had been a big reason as to how he had built Betty in the first place, he appreciated them more than almost anything here.

He knew metalworking, tank maintenance, sewing, among countless other skills due mostly to his collection of tomes. Sure, they didn’t give him first hand experience, but they had set him on the right path when he was trying new things. Once this Faesh book was copied and fully learned from, it would take a place in that shelf along with the others. It stood tall, bolted to and taking up most of the wall beside his recliner. It was his own personal library, preserving them for future survivors had been oh so important to him back on Earth…

But now? No one could read the damn things except himself, and the people of his world needed it far more than Faenor did. Sure, there could be a few Faenorans that could understand it, if they found a copy of Craig’s book maybe. It wasn’t likely, and he frankly didn’t want to share them with the locals. It would open up questions that may lead to Joe getting sacrificed.

No, for now he’d stay selfish and keep them locked away. Suddenly feeling tired of his work, he shut the copied tome, his eyes shifting over to the original version. English to Faesh. The single most important task on his bucket list was learning Faesh. He’d say he was getting close to knowing every word in the book, after all, he’d been spending the majority of his time this past month studying from it.

Wake up, study for ten hours, take two hours for something else, sleep. This has been the daily ritual he’d been following. Craig had done a fantastic job in his translation, everything had been written down cleanly and clearly. He had left another note part ways into the book, urging the reader to have conversations with themselves in Faesh and to create their own flashcards.

Joseph followed the advice to the letter, and had done a decent job at it, at least he hoped so. His pronunciation could use some work, but Craig had thankfully written down how to say all the words. It had been surprisingly easy to pick up on it, but he’d not know the results of his practice until he spoke with another native. Another chunk into the book and he had found yet another note from Craig, explaining that Faesh was not strictly a tonal language.

Thank God for that, if it had been tonal the learning process would have been a lot more miserable. Well, miserable in the sense that practice time would take far longer than it already did. He only realized it now, but he was beginning to feel somewhat antsy from staying cooped up here in Betty for the past month. A small break to wander through the woods would do wonders for his mental state.

He’d still need to gear up though, of course. He’d bring his trusty Benelli with him this time, seeing as it was now fully functional again. Time hadn’t been kind to the shotty, but Joseph had restored it to its former glory in his spare time. He slung it over his shoulder with a grin, donning his gear before stepping outside. His plate armor felt less stuffy than the last time he’d worn it, a boon granted by the approaching winter. It was late in the morning, but that chill still lingered in the air.

He had parked Betty right next to another section of the forest, where it rimmed the grassy field. The once long and green grass was slowly beginning to lose its luster, turning pale yellow as Autumn progressed. He’d just take a short jaunt through the woods, enjoy the wildlife, just relax. Faenor wasn’t half as dangerous as Earth, he could perhaps get away with a bit of laxyness. Hmm… Laxyness wasn’t a word either, but seeing how he was potentially the only man on Faenor to speak English, it was now.

He whistled a tune as he went, his eyes peeled despite his earlier intent to relax. It was hard to turn it off, these instincts had kept him alive since The End; they were second nature to him now. This wasn’t a bad thing of course, he honestly shouldn’t be lazy when he was out on foot, even if Faenor wasn’t as deadly as Earth. He needed to remember that this was an alien planet, anything could be out there. If he let himself become arrogant now, he was going to die.

As he continued deeper into the woods, he found himself smelling… smoke? Yes, in fact, he could see some smoke flooding the canopy overhead. He had only just begun his walk, it felt, and while regrettable, It was time to leave. His armor was tough but it couldn’t withstand a forest fire. He turned quickly, and began jogging back the way he had come, following trees he had marked with his trench knife. Thankfully the spread wasn’t faster than he was and he made it back to Betty in one piece.

He may have to evacuate the field if it spread to the grass, he wasn’t keen on letting Betty become an oven. She’d be relatively fine, but he’d boil to death if she got surrounded by fire for an extended period. He sighed as he thumbed the button to open Betty’s door, the ramp slowly lowering to allow him entrance.

“So,” A feminine voice said suddenly, “You aren’t a dwarf!”

He brought the Benelli to bear, swinging around to aim it at the speaker. Much to his surprise, it was the long-haired elf girl he had spotted sneaking up on Betty a month ago. Now that he could see her in color, he saw that the yellow-trimmed robe she wore was green, and her hair was blonde. Somehow she’d managed to sneak up on him! It was a tad bit humiliating that he’d let someone get the drop on him, he really had gotten rusty. She stood just at the rim of the forest where he had come from, a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. Just how long had she been following him?

She had been speaking in Faesh, thankfully his practice had paid off and he could understand her. Unless he was mixing up the words of course, but he didn’t think so.

“Get outta here.” He said in Faesh, “I don’t know what yer plannin’ but I don’t appreciate being followed around.”

She then knit her brows together, putting a hand on her chin before saying, “What a strange accent, are you from the Fog-Gate then? From a far off land?”

Good, she didn’t immediately assume he was an Outworlder, but what was this about a Fog-Gate? Well, whatever it was, it was the perfect excuse. She was staring very intently into his eyes, it was a look that mildly infuriated him. It was like she was trying to read him, treating him like an open book.

“That’s right,” Joseph said, flipping down the mask of his helmet to conceal his eyes, “I’m not going to warn you again. Leave.”

He really didn’t want to shoot this woman, but she was clearly dangerous. She had not only managed to sneak up on him of all people, but she had also been stalking him for God knows how long. She was a threat.

The elf then put up both her hands, palms forward, “I really don’t mean any harm, I just wanted to meet you is all.”

“So you’re a stalker freak.” Joseph said with disgust, “What’s your angle? There more of you behind them trees?” He said as he spotted some movement, “I see you there! Come out right now before I put a hole through yer friend!”

“It’s alright, Gerad!” The elf yelled in an annoyingly bubbly tone, “He doesn’t actually want to hurt me, come out!”

How the hell could she tell that? This girl really had been reading him like a book… maybe she was thousands of years old and could just do that. She was an elf after all, if fantasy conventions were being followed to the letter, then she was basically immortal. Biologically immortal anyway. A shotgun slug didn’t discriminate between mortal or immortal flesh, it would put holes in both.

A kid, the same one from last month, stepped out from behind the tree then, wearing a suffering expression, “Please don’t kill us.” He said, adjusting his backpack, “She’s shockingly dopey and innocent, she really means what she says.”

Joe eased slightly, seeing the boy avoid looking directly at him. He couldn’t bring himself to shoot the kid if he turned hostile… He would just have to knock him out instead. He wore a deep brown wool jacket and trousers, matching his tied back head of hair. There were some steel plates sewn in at the shoulders but not much else for protection. He was about a foot shorter than the elf woman, and about a thousand times less irritating.

“Just get her out of here and we’ll both be on our way kid.” Joe said, not lowering his shotgun, “I don’t trust people I don’t know, and I don’t know either of ya. Now git.”

“Kid?” He asked, exasperated “I’m thirty-eight!”

Joe blinked, looking the boy back over. If he was really thirty-eight he’d have some silver in his hair, some wrinkles, be complaining about his knees or something like that. Was this some strange attempt at a joke? Was he trying to defuse the tension? It was a poor attempt, but right now that didn’t matter.

“Forest is on fire.” Joe said, “You folk best get out of dodge before it reaches us.”

His brain felt hot trying to recall all these words on the spot like this, but it was quite literally a matter of life-and-death. He couldn’t let himself be outed as an Outworlder, especially since he didn’t want to kill these two. Maybe tomorrow he’d just sit back and relax, have a good ‘do nothing’ day.

“That’s why we’re here, actually.” The elf said, “My name is Sera, and you see, we happened to run into you here as coincidence.”

Joe narrowed his eyes at her, “Uh huh. My ass, what are you gonna fight the fire with? Yer hands?” He asked, indicating the woods with his head, “Get out of there boy, go stand with your friend, I wanna keep both of ya’s in sight.

“I’m not a boy, but fine.” He replied sullenly, moving to stand beside Sera.

Neither of them seemed to have any ranged weaponry, so he held the edge here. The kid, Gerad, had a sword sheathed at his belt, and Sera didn’t have anything at all besides the clothes on her back, if those could even be called clothes.

“As a response to your question,” Sera began with that horribly happy tone, “I can summon water, I ate a decent book a while back that allows it.”

Joe stared, not saying anything. He wasn’t questioning the existence of magic on Faenor, after all it was a fantasy world, why not have a few spells? But what was all this about eating a book? His eyes widened a fraction as he came to a sudden realization. He couldn’t just let these folk leave, he could talk to them and find out more about Faenor! It was tough being on the spot like this and remembering all these words, but if he could capture them he could learn all he wanted before dropping them both off somewhere far away…

He grinned beneath his mask… yes… they would probably infer that he was an Outworlder based on his questioning but it would be worth it in the end. He’d interrogate them for a month or two before letting ‘em go. It would be safer if he just killed them afterward… but that just didn’t sit right with him. The Big Guy Upstairs wouldn’t be too happy about that, He knew the difference between killing in self-defense and outright murder. It would be a huge pain in the ass to keep them restrained for that long though… he would need to feed them and supervise restroom time, which sounded hellish but he didn’t want to let this opportunity slip.

“Change of plans, both of ya get on yer knees.” He ordered, pumping his shotgun, “You’re coming with me.”

For some reason, Sera smiled, dropping to her knees without hesitation. Her eyes shifted over to Betty’s door, and there was a gleam in her eyes that he didn’t trust…Maybe bringing her would be a bad idea, she could apparently summon water, right? What if she flooded the interior? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, he’d have to settle on taking just the kid.

“Not you actually, just him.” He said, “I ain’t lettin’ you mess up my home with no magic crap.”

As expected, her eyes turned back onto him, looking shocked and incredibly disappointed. Gerad on the other hand…

“No way.” He said, remaining standing, “I’m not going with some halfling fetishist. I’d rather die.” He finished casually, “Not gonna be your toy, weirdo.”

Joe nearly groaned in despair at those words. He should have known that they’d think he was a pervert. Wait a second, did he say he was a halfling?

“Wait, you’re a halfling?” Joe asked. It was a word that had been translated in Craig’s book after all, there of course had to be a Faesh application for it on Faenor. “So you’re actually thirty-eight?”

Gerad sneered, “Not interested anymore? Maybe you were gonna sell me in Relias huh? Not me, I’d rather die.”

“Just calm down,” Joe said quickly, “It’s not like that, I need information, a lot of it.”

Some of which would be the location of this ‘Relias’ place. If people were being sold there, then Joe would head over there and put a stop to it, brutally.

“Information.” The halfling replied flatly.

“Oh!” Sera yelled excitedly, “I know way more than Gerad does about anything! Take me! I won’t use magic at all, promise.”

“Sera.” Gerad said with a groan, “You can’t go with this guy, and don’t be so rude!”

The halfling would rather die then go with him, and taking Sera was too big of a risk… plus, they were horribly annoying.

“Just forget it,” Joseph said, frustrated with the conversation, “This ain’t worth it, just get going!”

“Can’t we negotiate?” Sera asked, “You said you wanted information, yes? I can tell you whatever you would want to know, I’ve been in this Shard for years, I know a good deal about it.”

“No way.” Joe said, “You said you can summon water, you can flood Betty if you do that, and who knows what else ya got up yer sleeve.”

“Still such a strange accent… Like your tongue is broken.” Sera noted, “Almost as if you just started learning to talk.”

Damn, was his cover blown? Perhaps his way of speaking Faesh wasn’t as fluent as he hoped. Sera’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Joseph, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she asked.

“Are you perhaps a-”

Joseph’s finger itched to pull the trigger of his shotgun.

“Sigoid?” She asked.

Joe paused for a long while, “And what if I am?” He asked her, “Got a problem with Sigoids?”

Joe had no earthly idea what a damn Sigoid was, but it was the perfect out. He thought that Sera had figured out he was an Outworlder. He still shouldn’t outright claim that he was one, in case this was some kind of scheme to out himself.

“Ah well, you see…” Sera said, “I’ve had a long interest in meeting one of your kind. In my Shard, you are known as ‘Sigoids’ and I think-”

“So you really do think I am one then?” Joe asked, keeping his tone neutral.

“Honestly? I do, I really do.” Sera replied, her features hardening, “Your speech, to my ears, is broken, the weapons you wield are alien, and that wagon of yours emits no steam and is pulled by no beast. Fear not, I do not wish to sacrifice you, if you happen to be one, but I assure you that all I want is to learn about your world, and in exchange, I will teach you about mine.”

Joe’s lips tightened. Wherever Sera was from, Sigoid meant ‘Outworlder’. There was no translation for it in Craig’s book, so clearly he hadn’t been to her part of the world yet. Either that, or it was a word she had made up on the spot to give him a false out. What should he do? Should he kill her now or try to refute the claim? Simply denying it and shooing her off might spread rumors of an Outworlder being in this world, rumors that could come back to bite him. Killing her seemed to be the safest option, yet she was outright saying that she merely wanted to learn from him… she could be another Prolo, willing to help him out.

“What the hell is a Sigoid?” Gerad asked her, “Are you saying he’s an Outworlder?”

“It’s a word I made up.” Sera sighed, “There’s no such thing as a Sigoid, I was merely testing to see how he would react to it. Based on what he said… I think he is one.”

Well, letting her go wasn’t an option anymore, same with the kid- halfling. They didn’t know for sure that he was an Outworlder, but they were at least suspicious. There were only two options now, kill them here or take them captive… the latter seemed infinitely more dangerous, a risk to be sure, but with the potential of a great reward. Sera could be able to teach him how to properly speak Faenoran, and his gut was telling him that would be the right choice. It had rarely been wrong before, but Gerad? The halfling he didn’t trust one bit… and he had to either take them both, or kill them both. Damn it all, he hated making decisions like this.

“If I was an Outworlder, I could just kill ya from right here and go about my day.” Joe pointed out, indicating his shotgun, “Why the hell would you let me know that you suspect it? You dumb?”

“Elves can read a lot about a person through eye-contact sir.” Sera said, “Emotions mostly, but I can tell that you are a man of good character. I don’t feel like I’m in danger.”

So that was why she was staring at him like that earlier. It was good that she couldn’t see his eyes right then, she might have changed that opinion if she saw them now. The internal debate to kill or capture was still warring in his mind, despite his gut feeling about Sera. Truth was, did he really need to take her with him to learn? Once the book was complete, he could return to Prolo and learn- He frowned, clicking his tongue at the thought. Pienturshuld manor wasn’t a place he could comfortably study at. The staff there would know who and what he was, it was not a safe haven anymore. Sure, he could try and hide, but where? What was he gonna do, sleep under Prolo’s bed?

He couldn’t just kidnap Prolo either, mostly because Joe knew and liked him. Forcing him out of his own manor to help him learn a language probably wouldn’t have a positive affect on their friendship. Joe could ask Prolo if he’d want to come with him, and maybe the boy would agree to it… but it was hard to say.

He looked between his shotgun, and his two captives. Very hard to say… Silence stretched for a long while as Joseph mulled on what to do. Unfortunately, he wasn’t allowed the time to reach a decision. He heard the sound of something flapping overhead, something incredibly heavy, if his ears were right. His head craned upward to see a long, serpentine red line trailing through the air above him. It landed right beside Betty, turning its draconic horned head toward him with a snarl. By God those teeth were longer than his gun, those crimson scales looked impenetrable, its horns looked capable of putting a hole through power armor…

This was an honest to God dragon, wasn’t it? He whirled, aiming his shotgun at the thing. His back was turned to Sera and Gerad, but he’d much rather have his back to them, rather than to this thing. Right as he was about to pull the trigger, it began to speak, once more in Faesh.

“I have come to rend this land and turn it into my domain.” It said, its voice cold and rumbling, “My hoard will grow, and the treasure’s in your wagon will-”

Joseph pulled the trigger, blowing out a large section of the wyrm’s throat and sending it reeling back, coughing up blood. He was not giving this overgrown lizard a damn thing beside a surplus of lead. Its limbless serpentine body slithered away, taking flight despite its lack of wings. He had no idea how it was something this big could get air with no wings, but Joe just assumed it was magic.

Joe pulled the trigger again, the slug impacting the dragon’s flank and sending it crashing back down to the ground. Bones and organs were visible now, the shotgun having left a sizable hole in its flesh. Joe sprinted around the beast quickly, making sure to stay just out of its reach. He didn't want to get caught by a tail whip or get gnawed on by those teeth. Still the thing tried to crawl away through the grass, moving quickly as it continued to cough.

A small trail of blood and spilling gore followed it as it made its way through the grass, and it screamed, “Stay back, mortal!” It gurgled, “I will turn your entire family to ash if you persist!”

As soon as he finally got a clear shot on its head, he took aim, but just before he could pull the trigger, the monster quickly exhaled, sending out a torrent of hot orange flame. Joe’s instincts took over, and he leapt, rolling onto his shoulder before quickly coming back to his feet. The fire engulfed the spot where he had just been standing, igniting the grass. He quickly took aim once more and fired, not wasting time trying to aim anywhere in particular.

Another hole opened up in the dragon’s throat, on the opposite side of the first one he’d created before. The beast collapsed to the grass with a gurgling roar, its blood nigh invisible against its crimson scales. It inhaled again, barely managing to lift its head from the grass before it exhaled once more. Joe rolled yet again, but found out that it had been unnecessary.

Instead of it’s mouth, the fire had escaped from the dual holes in its neck, lighting up the field on either side of it instead of flying toward Joe. Presumably frustrated, the wyrm launched forward, mouth wide open to chomp him in half. It never got the chance. One final slug left the barrel of the Bennelli, impacting the roof of the dragon’s mouth and blasting its brain out of the back of its head.

It didn’t matter how tough something was, nothing could live with swiss cheese for a brain. The wyrm collapsed, surrounded by its own, quickly spreading fire. Joe briefly wondered if the thing was edible, he’d need to sharpen his butcher knife to pierce those scales… actually, those scales could be useful. He assumed they were flame retardant, and-

No, he needed to focus, the fire was spreading and it was time to get out of dodge, he’d come back here another time to see if anything could still be salvaged from the body. Right as he was about to sprint around the flames to reach Betty however, the sunlight became distorted. He looked up to see that a large sheet of water had formed in the sky overhead, seeming to cover the sun with its width.

Then, it came crashing down to Earth- er, Faenor. He only had time to tuck his shotty beneath his trenchcoat before it impacted, drenching his coat and nearly knocking him to the ground with its weight. His armor may have been watertight, but his coat would need to be dried thoroughly later. Had Sera done that?

He raised his head, seeing only wet burnt grass and a steaming dragon corpse. That, and Bettty of course, now covered with a fresh coat of water. However… he couldn’t see Sera or Gerad anywhere. He tried to turn around, to see if they had come up behind him, but strangely enough, his body disobeyed him… in fact, he couldn’t move it at all! Panic welled up within him when he felt a dainty hand touch his shoulder.

“I got you now, Outworlder.” Sera said in a happy tone.