The opening explosion of rain quickly died down, but the storm retained its strength for the time that it should have, and TJ couldn't help but smile as Roger watched his pool nearly overflow. His neighbor quickly agreed with TJ's terms, oblique as they were. Sure, TJ was going to keep it raining here frequently enough that he didn't really need to make this agreement, but he figured having some sort of a relationship with his neighbors was going to be important. After all, getting a couple buckets of water a day would just be so much simpler than having to make it rain or store the water inside the house.
Since the storm continued to weaken for the entire time it existed, when it died to a light drizzle and constantly rumbling thunder, Roger walked out and looked up at the sky. Seeing the clouds and rain, the man sighed as if he'd expected it to be faked somehow. TJ took the opportunity to Appraise the man.
Zealot, 17
Again, TJ was struck by how low his level was, and couldn't imagine he understood how Roger'd survived his Tutorial. After all, nobody had escaped Tutorial 107.48.891 while lower than level 21. In the end, TJ couldn't help but ask, "What was your Tutorial like?"
Roger scowled a little as he looked at TJ, but after looking for a second, the Zealot replied, "Not fun. How was yours?"
"That's an understatement." TJ scoffed. "We had 36 people survive. The other 164 were killed by the monsters."
Roger's jaw fell open as he heard TJ's words. His wife, whose name TJ still didn't know, called as she walked out from inside, "What? I not hear you right, I'm sure."
She was a shorter woman, her thick black hair cut in a bob and occasionally streaked with gray. The bridge of her nose bore the marks of glasses that she no longer needed to wear. When TJ Appraised her, he was surprised to see she was higher level than her husband.
Neophyte, 19
"Hello, Mrs. Roger's wife. I'm TJ." He introduced himself with a wave.
"I'm Susan." She said, her voice much more thickly accented than Roger's. "But what you say about people dying?"
"Well, I'm thinking that my Tutorial experience was very different from yours." TJ hesitantly answered. "We had 200 people in our Tutorial. Did you two too?"
Both nodded, and TJ couldn't help but be sidetracked for a moment. "Did you two go to the same Tutorial?"
"Yes." Roger answered.
Seeing that Susan was going to ask again, TJ raised his hands in acknowledgement. "So, we were fighting monsters from day one. Our safe zone kept shrinking, and as the pukwudgies got smarter and stronger, more and more people died. When the other monsters started coming and the Elites, more and more people were killed. The final battle against the monsters and Boss killed another 60. In the end, only 36 people survived."
"What are puk—no. Are you ok?" Roger asked, his face disbelieving. "I think only 27 people total died in our Tutorial."
"Was 26." Susan corrected.
"Ok." Roger shrugged. "Are you ok? That is a lot of death to see."
"It… was what we were forced to do to survive." TJ didn't want to talk about the specifics. "What was your Tutorial like?"
"200 people put all together in a cave up on the mountains." Roger explained while pointing to the group of mountains to the north. "I think it was up on Four Peaks? But we were given a little water, directions to a river, and a lesson on how to find the monsters. They were mostly duendes, and we didn't have too much trouble with them. They were dangerous if you let a couple get on you, but we could protect each other while we were learning. Some other monsters too, but the dangerous ones were the chupacabras. If they caught someone, they needed to be killed fast, or they'd die from blood loss." Roger shuddered.
"And was there a Boss at the end? Did you need to protect the cave, or how else did the Tutorial end?" TJ asked.
"A big chupacabra, and we needed to defend the cave." Roger answered both questions in quick succession before providing more detailed responses. "The System told us how to build defenses, so the siege wasn't too bad. The Boss was a big chupacabra, and it killed a couple of people when it jumped over our defenses. While it was distracted, Susan was able to kill it with the blessing of Liễu Hạnh Công chúa. The earth itself revolted at the monster's presence and crushed it!"
TJ had no idea who that was, but figured it would be the origin of her Bloodline. Given how excited Roger was about it, TJ didn't have any heart to ask questions about who that was, figuring the System would provide more information if he asked later. And if not, that wouldn't matter too much anyways, as he could just see her Divine Transformation later on if he was really that curious. For now, he didn't care about the exact things she got from her Skill. Instead, it was reaffirmed to him that his Tutorial was much more difficult than at least some of the others, and that right from the get-go. Why was that?
"—TJ!" Roger's voice pulled TJ from his thoughts.
"I'm sorry. I was thinking about how different our Tutorials were. Yours was just so much less dangerous."
"Yes." Roger replied. "Do you want the water now?"
"No." TJ shook his head as he stood up. "I'll get moving now, don't want to intrude on your evening. Do you have enough food to feed yourselves today? There should be more food coming tomorrow, if you're willing to hunt."
"We have a little that the looters didn't find." Roger offered, though he stiffened up at the question. TJ sighed internally as he hopped over the wall.
"Glad to hear it. I have a little that they didn't think to check for, so I should be ok. See you tomorrow, neighbors."
"Good evening, TJ."
"If we get more food, come eat!" Susan added. "We only have for us, but later, I make you good food!"
"I'll look forward to it!" TJ smiled as called over his shoulder and walked into his house. True to his word, the laundry room had been left alone, and Mari'd used much of the cabinetry in there for excess nonperishables. Most of the stuff in there was extra instant ramen or mac'n'cheese, but there was one thing TJ sneakily pulled a sleeve out of before he retreated to his bedroom.
As the first oreo hit his tongue, TJ nearly wept. He hadn't eaten any sweets since the Tutorial, except for the canned fruits and syrup on his pancakes those first days. On top of that, he'd always had a sweet tooth and an appreciation for the fattiest, sweetest treats. The dark cookie's crumbs filled his mouth, and as he continued to chew, the almost sickly sweetness was something that just made TJ feel like he would be ok. Why that was the case, he couldn't say, but it was.
He kept himself back to only a single cookie, and twisted the sleeve closed before placing it back in the large box. Then something else occurred to him and he walked down the hall back to the main room, where he entered the garage. Since he had Primal Savagery, TJ hadn't thought to check on the tools that might still be in there, but there were a couple barrels in the attic that were almost certainly forgotten and would be useful.
The car, an older sedan he didn't care about, was in the way. Ordinarily, TJ would have opened the garage door and backed the car into the drive before getting the ladder out and then into the attic. Now, he climbed on the hood, and even though he was only barely tall enough to push the loose tile out of the way to get into the attic, he could easily jump up there without issue. Before he did so, though, something else occurred to him and TJ activated Divine Transformation. Being in his house was playing tricks on his mind, making him forget the world he lived in now. He pushed the reminiscence from his mind, instead focusing on his goal.
TJ knew that it would be difficult for any snake to lift themself directly in the air like he was, but with his supernatural Strength, he didn't struggle at all to poke his snout into the attic and find what he was looking for. Six five-gallon buckets with emergency food inside of them awaited his approach, and TJ grabbed the handles for two in his jaws and carried them down into the garage. The other four weren't needed for now, so he left those where he'd found them.
In the garage, TJ shifted back to his human form as he carried both buckets towards his bedroom. He didn't want there to be any chance of someone storming into his house like Ted and finding food. There wasn't any reason to incite anger, frustration, or violence, so far as TJ could tell. So he wouldn't.
He looked through the kit, seeing instant mashed potatoes, a half dozen MREs, a couple packaged treats, some camping gear, and a first aid kit. Funnily enough, he'd nearly taken the MREs out of the buckets years before, thinking that he'd have more food in the house and they wouldn't be needed, but he'd figured that having more food wouldn't ever be a bad thing. Now that the apocalypse had come, TJ only needed the food and didn't care about the rest of the more "practical" items in the bucket.
Figuring that, with the appearance of monsters tomorrow, he could eat some more, TJ set to preparing two MREs. A lasagna and ravioli, supposedly. He'd never actually eaten one, so TJ was actually a little excited to try them. According to the directions, all he needed to do was add water, so that's what he did. Whatever chemical was in there heated the water and TJ relished the smell of the cooking food in his room. As he needed to keep waiting, he pulled the extra pair of sheets out and made the bed. It still felt like a violation that whoever had robbed his home had taken the sheet, but it was obvious they'd used it to carry their spoils.
Once the bed was made, TJ tossed himself onto it. It was soft, comfortable, and familiar. The smells, the little divot where he always laid, everything. He nearly felt himself drifting off at that, but TJ forced himself to sit up instead. If he fell asleep right now, he'd miss the meal he'd so lovingly prepared for himself. He couldn't help but laugh at himself as the thought crossed his mind. The lasagna was looking him in the face, and TJ went to get a fork to help himself to the meals.
Surprisingly, TJ really enjoyed both. He could feel that, if he'd been eating something other than plain salted javelina steaks for the past week and a half, he'd probably be only ok with the food the package held. As it was, the variety of spices and materials was more than enough to be pleasant, even if it wasn't real cheese on the pastas. TJ ate both quite quickly before going ahead and locking every door into the house. Sure, the bay window was smashed wide open, but with the table propped up against it, he figured he'd have enough warning of someone or something coming in to wake up and transform himself. Then, for good measure, he closed and locked his bedroom's door.
Wrapped up in his blankets in his bed in his house, TJ felt a swelling of a wild cocktail of emotions. He didn't cry, but as his mind struggled to figure out what he was feeling, he slipped into unconsciousness.
Hours later, he woke to the sound of a foot scraping on glass in the kitchen.