The Day of Reckoning (Prototype)

Chapter 3: Resource Recon

I wake up to Alfie standing on my face, chirping. "Nngh, what is it, bud?" I ask him. He turns his head towards the cat's food and water bowls. They're both empty. "Damn, thanks dude." I say, getting up.

I take a mornin' piss and use the water bottles from yesterday to fill up their bowls. I scoop out the last bit of kibble and put the empty bag on the table. I could use it for something later.

I fill up half the empty Big-Hug bottles with lemon and lime juice. I fill up the rest with juice from the oranges from yesterday, which turned out to be grapefruit. With replenished citrus grenades and enough smokescreens to last for a while, I grab my emptied backpack, spear, and coat.

I don't need the toolkit belt for now. I tell Alfie to stay with the cats, putting him and the last leaf of kale on a shelf where the cats can't reach. I walk out the treehouse, stepping over my curtain trap and head to Cam's. It has the best food, barely any Eldritch, and a plethora of resources that don't run out fast.

On my way, I hear a kitten loudly mewing. I follow the cries and find the poor thing cornered by two Eldritch. "Hey! Over here!" I call out. They turn to me and screech, hungry for my skin. I spin around and book it with the Eldritch on my tail.

As one of them screech, I scoop up a rock and throw it right in its mouth. It goes straight down its throat and it falls on its ass, gagging its heart out. I spin around and draw my spear. The Eldritch pounces at me, but I duck and spin around, swinging my spear into its eye.

It fumbles to the side, and I stab its chin. I move the spear through it, almost cutting it in half and sending black blood everywhere. Distracted by his messed up chin, I jab my spear into a just barely exposed piece of skin, hitting some kind of vital organ.

It falls to the ground and dies. The monster who I threw the rock at is dead, too. I turn back and retrieve the kitten, who was still crying in the alley. He's reluctant, but he let's me pick him up after smelling the other cats on me.

"Hey little guy. You a loner like me?" I ask him. He looks at me with big eyes but says nothing.

He can't say anything.

He's a cat.

"I'll name you Ell." I say. "Sorta like Eldritch." I smile at him. He continues to stare blankly. I smile at him again and place him in my empty satchel pouch, giving him enough space to poke his head out. "Let's go get you and your new friends some food."

I continue my trek to Cam's. On the way, I sneak past some Eldritch messily eating a corpse. A couple of minutes later, we arrive at Cam's. I get to the broken glass doors, and Ell and I step through. I immediately go to the back to collect the kitty kibble. I pick up three large bunches of kale as well.

I put them both in the bag and go to look for things for me. I grab some chips, as well as a case of California juice and Frappuccinos. I also put a couple boxes of cereal in my bag, and grab a can of lemonade mix as well as a tub of sugar. I walk towards the door, dropping a couple of quarters on a table.

Before I walk out, I hear something hit the floor from the back. Ell dips his head into the satchel and I turn around slowly, readying my weapon. "Hold on tight, Ell. We might get ambushed." I reach into my satchel and grab a smokescreen.

"HEY!! WHO'S THERE!?" I shout. Another thud. "WHO THE FUCK IS THERE!?" I switch out the smokescreen for a citrus grenade and launch it towards the back where the sound came from. It makes a loud splash when it hits the ground.

"Hey, what the FUCK IS THIS SHIT!? Who the hell threw that!??" I hear a male voice say. "Oh shit, that's a human!" I say to Ell. He quietly mews from the satchel as I begin to jog towards the voice. I hear heavy footsteps coming my way as the smile on my face begins to grow more and more.

As I turn the corner of an aisle, I see someone with a red shirt and red hair, just like me! But I don't see anything else before I'm knocked out.