Firstly I'm happily married and certainly won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future, plus I've made my peace on the matter but it'll be interesting to see what is said.
In short my wife is domestically useless. She's intelligent and educated but is so bad domestically that it's like having a 3rd child with our two real ones.
Almost anything domestic chore related she either can't do, won't do or does so badly I need to do again anyway. And this was a thing way before we had children. I'll give a short list of them:
She can't pair socks, or do the laundry. As in she loses her own socks then has the cheek to use then lose mine. She can't pair them when they leave the washing machine either. Oh and she won't turn clothes the right way again after they've dried before putting them away.
She can't wash up dishes, to the point where she leaves big grease stains on plates or just leaves pans without attempting to scrub. So I need to step in anyway even if she claims to have done the washing up.
She cannot manage supplies of anything. Toilet roll, she'll use the last one and not replace it, any consumable she'll use up and not say anything about it. As a result I do the shopping all myself and even have to double check her list against our inventory incase I over buy or she misses something.
More often than not food that's saved in the fridge might as well be scraped into the bin immediately because she just forgets about it. I've thrown out some insanely mouldy things over the years. It's always me that has to re-organise the fridge, she haphazardly stacks stuff around to the extent where she forgets she has stuff inside and what was new fresh food goes past it's sell by date. To crown the food section off, she loves opening new packets of perishables without checking whether a previous one is open already. Actually no, to crown this bit off she always leaves bread crums from toast in the butter as she misjudges the amount so has to put it back into the tub.
Her cooking consumes a huge amount of utensils, you can tell when she's cooked as you wash up about a dozen spoons and forks despite only needing to feed 4. Don't even get me started on how she stabs food on our nice pans with metal forks and knives thus chipping them. Sink is full of left over scraps? You'vr guessed it, she won't ever empty it out and let it accumulate.
When she seals bags of food with a clip she'll leave a gap somewhere so air still gets in. She understands science and how things go stale so this staggers me. Furthermore if I open a packet of say kitchen wipes, she'll somehow manage to rip the packet open despite me priming it so the pack dries out quickly. Oh and often things I've sealed with a clip she'll just throw back into the cupboard without the clip, thus leaving it open to the elements.
She will leave the lids off jars of food, leave things that need to go in the fridge out for hours or the worse, leave lids to things like ketchup unclicked so they are open so sauce ends up spilling out.
She doesn't use the vacuum cleaner much at all and she almost never mops the floor. Oh and if she uses the vaccuum she won't empty it out after use.
Likewise she does not take out the rubbish, she doesn't take the big wheelie bins out OR back in after they're collected despite her leaving and re-entering the house multiple times before I return home from work.
There's likely more than this but you get the picture. If I had to sum it up, it's like the opposite to someone doing little romantic things to make your life easier. It's like someone going out of their way to f**k up your life in little ways. Like if the water filter jug is out of water, she isn't going refill it after having the last glass of water. Or after she's had a cup of tea or other drink, the cup gets left there and I need to patrol the house looking for missing cups.
My wife isn't from a rich background and she's a kind loving person but her lack of any domestication blows my mind.
I've tried telling her countless times, but she always has an excuse or reason why she can't do something so I've given up to keep the peace.
I know it's the 21st century and men should pull their weight around the house. I know we have children and she's an excellent Mother to them, the very best. But it seems like there's a price to be paid and being a Domestic Moron seems to be it. Oh and I work full time, she's off looking after our young. But yet I still do the bulk of the housework, sometimes I get in from work at midnight and I'm up for an hour with chores before I can relax. Guess it's marriage, as she would be utterly screwed with someone who was just as badly organised...
Mostly shooting question about the ammunition. Can it be in the same case as the rifle and can the ammo be stored in a plastic bag while in the locked hard-sided case?
Backstory: I am going to the quigley shooting competition next month and I will need my rifle with around 270 rounds of ammunition
As a veteran of HD1 and the first galactic war I am absolutely appalled at the state of the game’s current arsenal. There are some fun and unique weapons here and there but most of them just feel redundant or terrible. Nowhere is this more visible that the AR, SMG, and DMR lineup. Here is a rework I’m proposing to high command ti ensure we are given proper tools to ensure the safety and spread of managed democracy.
Gun Rebalance and additions ARs Class Role: Rifles are designed to put holes through targets, and they need to reflect this role better. All rifles with Light penetration have been upgraded to be Light armor defeating. This means that while weapons with Light AP will damage light armor, they won’t always fully damage it. While rifles with light armor defeating fully negate light armor and deal full damage to it.
Liberator, 65DMG, Excellent ergonomics, the best weapon for firing on the move, +1 mag Role: Extremely easy to control and ideal for new players or veterans looking for something reliable. Capable of 45/45/4.5/ delivering 45 rounds at 45 meters in 4.5 seconds on target with no effort. Lore: High command has started production on upgrade kits for our standard rifles to improve it’s handling. Liberators now come with a vertical foregrip and a new muzzle brake to better control the weapon.
AP Liberator, 70 DMG, +5 rounds, Slower reload, 23 recoil, bad ergonomics, Uses AR scope Role: This Frankenstein of a gun is not for new players, uncomfortable recoil, and unfriendly handling in exchange for uncompromising stopping power. Terrible when firing on the move, with significant muzzle climb. But it provides rapid armor-piercing fire to those who can control it. Lore: The Penetrator started its life as a converted liberator modified to better penetrate armor. However there was no standard for how this would be achieved, so the conversion differs from regiment to regiment. Typically it involved sawing off a diligence barrel and converting it into a squeeze bore to increase velocity at the cost of terminal ballistics without using new ammunition. High Command has now realized the potential usefulness of a standardized conversion for its service rifle. Fabricator schematics have been published for new components and manuals for a consistent conversion. As part of project Ironbreaker, an initiative to outfit soldiers with better AP weapons, Production has begun on a variety of new ammo for the weapon which is much more powerful. The new 5.77mm Talon round generates 3x more chamber pressure than the liberator. The weapon itself has a new chamber and a properly machined barrel, made from surplus diligence rifles. The new AP liberator is also outfitted with a standard rifle optic, Punisher pump grip for a vertical grip, 35 round magazine, and a grey and red color scheme to denote its new changes.
Adjudicator, 90-100 DMG, 720 RPM, 30 recoil, Burst fire, uses the DMR scope Role: Battle rifle, Ideal for long-range combat, Semi-auto for small targets or precise shooting, Burst fire for large targets or close combat. Sluggish ergonomics but surprisingly controllable. Lore: Designed to replace liberator rifles on specific fronts where armored enemies are more common, the adjudicator was met with mixed success. The weapon proved to be reliable, powerful, and accurate but failed to fully replace the liberator in an assault rifle capacity. However, the 17th Helldivers regiment came up with a brilliantly effective modification. The outfitted the weapon with a reciprocating barrel shroud and a burst fire mode to turn the rifle into a long-range killing machine. With a surplus of Adjucator parts piling up from the weapon’s failure, High command has made this modification the new factory standard for all Adjucator rifles. The added weight and complexity in exchange for what has been reported as a 50% increase in accuracy seemed to be a fair trade.
Tenderizer, 840RPM, 75-round drum, 12 recoil, 4 mags, Terrible reload, Okay moving accuracy Role: IAR, ideal for laying down sustained fire on targets, can mow down multiple targets quickly. Low magazine count and high RoF make this weapon prone to running out of ammo. Lore: A new development to supplant the more expensive and time-consuming liberator rifles for SEAF army troopers, the Tenderizer was an unwelcome addition. It was heavier, bulkier, and awkward to handle. However, the increased bulk made it easy to control during sustained fire and it was very reliable under this strain. Troops began jury rigging drum magazines to use it as light machine guns. With a sizeable surplus of the liberator’s 5.77mm ammo, High Command began testing a designated IAR (Infantry Automatic Rifle) variant for helldivers use. This variant was an instant success providing individual hell divers with team-level firepower in a rifle-sized package.
Blackout(New), 85DMG, 420RPM, 24 round mag, 8 mags, superb moving accuracy, Silenced Role: Ideal for stealthy missions, the blackout deals very high damage at close range, while enabling the user to remain undetected from nearby patrols. Not effective vs armor Lore: Developed for Blackguard operatives, the Blackout is an integrally suppressed rifle created in response to the rising automaton threat. Veterans of Maevelon Creek petitioned High command to develop a new rifle, able to quietly eliminate bots while still being effective against devestators.
Yari(New), 45DMG, 1400RPM burst, 900RPM salvo, 36 Round magazine, 10 mags, AP Role: Prototype rifle with lightweight Sabot ammunition, fires a 3-round hyperburst and a 6-round salvo. Exceptional ammo efficiency and power at range lacks close combat ability.
DMRs(Classwide rework) Role: DMRs are designed to put rounds where rounds need to go while also being able to be used alongside assault rifles in a firefight. In Helldivers DMRs take an unconventional role of being viable against light target while alos enabling the user to defeat larger enemies like devestators and bile spewers at long range. To start, DMRs have a new bonus, DMRs deal +75% extra weak point damage (Headshots) and deal 10% more damage per point of AP they have over the target region. So they do extra damage if they hit the soft unarmored bits as well as on headshots. They also receive 50% less recoil while prone to better provide accuracy at range. DMRs are for the methodical sharpshooter who prefers to pick off targets at a distance instead of charging in, rewarding careful positioning and shot placement with heaps of dead foes.
Diligence, 120-140 DMG, 22 Round mag, 30 recoil, 8 mags, Full auto mode, Silenced Role: Starter DMR that delivers high damage at long range while keeping the user concealed. Silencer isn’t as effective at close range, but great for staying hidden during firefights. Lore: High command has witnessed the substantial failures of their DMRs and has issued a complete recall of the weapon. A brand new receiver and chamber system has increased its muzzle velocity by 500 feet per second, greatly increasing lethality.
Diligence CS, 175-200DMG, 18-round mag, 6 mags, Staggers on full damage hit, Thermal optic Role: This more demanding variant of Diligence rewards more precise shooting with higher damage. It is better at stopping large targets but is less effective at picking off enemies. Lore: as part of the Ironbreaker initiative, many weapons are being issued new nitro ammunition. The diligence CS has undergone a more extensive upgrade. A new barrel and chamber designed to maximize lethality with the new ammo has greatly increased stopping power. The CS can stop devastators, bile spewers, berserkers, and similar targets with just a few hits. It has also been outfitted with a thermal sight to see through fog, sand, gas, and smoke.
Retribution(New), 275 DMG, 8 Round mag, Bolt action, Rounds reload, Silenced, AP Role: Longest range DMR, remarkably quiet and powerful, ideal for dropping large targets and protecting teammates from range.
Wyvern(New), 110DMG, 360 RPM, 26 Round magazine, 8 Mags, AP, Full Auto capable Role: Assault DMR, designed to be used aggressively at close range while permitting the user to provide long-range support.
SMGs (Classwide rework) Role: SMGs put holes in targets, not through them. SMGs have been largely replaced by Rifles in modern warfare, the same should apply to Helldivers. This shouldn’t make the useless, but instead good at different things. SMGs should be suited to personal defense and reliability under a wider variety of circumstances than rifles. SMGs have classwide damage nerf to reflect their lower caliber and have very noticeable damage falloff. However, they get a buff in every other area, with the most notable being that each SMG carries 12 mags instead of 8. SMGs are still capable of dropping larger targets with one mag, and with their lower recoil, they can reliably do so. But are now better suited to protecting the user from groups of weaker enemies.
Defender, 40 DMG, 720 RPM, 5 recoil, 12 Mags, Lightning fast reload Role: User-friendly and economical weapon, very easy to use. Less power than assault rifles but puts rounds where they need to be. Lore: The original Defender SMG was actually a failure, being prohibitively expensive to produce both the weapon and its ammo. Although it was a very popular weapon during peacetime, the demands of the war have made the defender a rare sight. To ensure that SEAF forces had a reliable weapon for CQC, the Defender A2 has been put into production. High command has changed its standard handgun cartridge from the .43 Hawk Tungsten core AP round to the cheaper 8mm FMJ round. The new defenders have an increased rate of fire and are more controllable but lacks the stopping power of the original.
Knight, 35 Damage, 900RPM Full auto, 1300rpm burst, 8 Recoil, 12 mags Role: PDW, Delivers a torrent of rounds quickly and accurately. Burst fire is ideal for mid-range enemies, full auto puts down groups of lightly armored enemies. Lore: The A4 knight variant features an electrically operated feed instead of a gas-operated one. This has enabled the weapon to fire at a more controllable rate in full auto while preserving medium-range accuracy with a 1300rpm hyperburst. It has also been outfitted with a less powerful round that is lighter and more economical, improving total ammo carried and recoil control at the cost of stopping power.
Shinobi(New) 50 DMG, 540RPM, 25 Round mag, Silenced Role: Spec-ops SMG for quietly dispatching groups of unarmored enemies. Less effective than other options in a firefight but perfect for sneaking around
Sweeper(New) 40 DMG, 800RPM, 80 Round drum, 8 mags, terrible ergonomics Role: Space Tommy gun, this weapon is designed to put as many rounds as possible down range as fast as possible, where said rounds land is irrelevant. Ammo hungry but very mobile.
I am aware these changes are extensive and won’t likely be implemented. I don’t believe that every weapon should be OP or god tier, but they should all have some niche where they really excel. Have a nice day and good luck Helldivers.
Sooo I was trying to fall asleep but decided to lurk on X for a little while. Then a post popped up on my feed. It was from an account with Rafayel dp. Post contained the caption “Affinity 125” and some voice clips that appears to come from Secret Times. And holy mother of fuck I did not expect what I just heard 😳😳😳 jeeezzus hgbsjxjsjhcjajs I am shaking, squirming, palpitating, and just reeling cuz gaadddaaaam that was juicy af hhhnngg 😮💨🫦 I’ve listened to it x4 so now I’m effin wide awake 🙃 MC you lucky bitch, how to be you 😩 Raf my boy my fishie just keeps serving 😮💨🧎♀️ Whoever you are Raf VA, you are something else 🙇♀️ you definitely deserve a raise 👏🫡
PS: How do people reach affinity 125 so fast? 😨
New Vegas is my first Fallout/ Bethesda game and I’m digging the world. But I’m struggling a bit with the gunfights. Will the aim and damage continue to improve as I add more points to certain skills as I level up? Unloading a varmint rifle clip into a guy and maybe 2 hit while doing little damage is getting frustrating.
1.
*Extended Barrel / Fluted Barrel
*Light Mag / Armor-Piercing Rounds
Eye of the Storm
Precision Instrument
Range MW
2.
*Smallbore / Polygonal Rifling
*Light Mag / Flared Magwell
Slideshot
Magnificent Howl
Range MW
3.
*Fullbore / Fluted Barrel
*High-Caliber Rounds / Extended Mag
Slideshot
Precision Instrument
Stability MW
4.
*Fullbore / Chambered Compensator
*Ricochet Rounds / Armor-Piercing Rounds
*Enlighted Action / Discord
*Opening Shot / Harmony
Range MW
5.
*Full Bore / Chambered Compensator
*Light Mag / Appended Mag
Eye of the Storm
Opening Shot
Handling MW
6.
*Full Bore / Smallbore
*Ricochet Rounds / Appended Mag
Slideshot
Kill Clip
Handling MW
Part 5 Gerard, God Somewhere in time and space He watched the passers-by as they moved about, following their daily routines, unaware of the fate that would shortly befall them. This was the time that fascinated Him the most. The moments before they finally understood that The Threat was here.
It was a sort of last hurrah, He thought. They didn't know it, but Gerard could nonetheless sense a sort of joi de vivre, a liveliness that simply didn't exist in prior times, and couldn't possibly exist in future ones. He watched mothers dote lovingly over their children, watched children hurl themselves into play with abandon, watched addicts take in their drugs like a drowning man would gulp for air. They might not known that there was no tomorrow for most of them, but they nonetheless seemed to put just a little bit of extra effort into everything.
Eventually, it came to an end, of course. It always did, no matter how many times He watched it. He saw happiness and mundanity give way to pain and suffering. Laughter was replaced by the screams of the dying. Life was replaced by death. The world replaced by destruction.
He sighed, leaving this timeline. He never watched the arrival of The Threat twice in the same timeline. There was nothing for Him to learn that way. His power was immense and total. He only had to witness The Threat once in each timeline to understand it.
Worst of all was the knowledge. The knowledge that He would only be able to save a single timeline. That all others would fall into ruin, destroyed and left to rot away. Only one could survive; the one that He chose. He could stop The Threat only once, for doing so would require Him to remain. Ever vigilant, ever ready to stop any recurrence.
He had to choose which timeline. That task was less than He feared, for now he knew that there were an infinite number of them. He could choose one with the right qualities, one whose nature would aid Him in His work. He realized then that He would, once He had chosen the proper timeline, finally watch The Threat come twice. Once, when He reviewed that timeline prior to choosing. And again, when He would stop it.
And stop it, He would. No other outcome was acceptable. He had already sacrificed too much. His mortality, His life, His happiness, His very soul itself. He had wrought Himself into a weapon, to strike down The Threat, and He would fulfill that purpose, no matter what.
----
Jerry Williams, Godslayer Nibiru We were sharks, swimming and darting among a school of fish. Gods and devas fled, screaming in terror as we flew through the swirling, chaotic energies that should have driven us -or at least my wife and daughter- mad within seconds. They had thought that their realm protected them.
Little did they know, we were already mad.
Inanna and I flanked a group of fleeing gods, preventing them from leaving this world, extending their essence into manifested bodies somewhere in one of the countless material worlds, or simply crossing the energy that was the core of their beings into the Spirit World. Here, in Nibiru, our divinities and demi-divinities gave us access to unlimited power. We seized it and wove nets with which to entrap those minor gods who could not find escape elsewhere, and had huddled here in fear of our coming.
As the group fled, we sped up, curving our course, which caused them to curve theirs, fearful of drawing too close to either of us. We moved slowly, carefully, angling them where we wanted them to go.
It wasn't long before the gaping maw of the Grandfather of the Gods came into view. Ixlublotl, the primordial god, the originator of divinity. The gods we herded realized their peril and turned to flee back the opposite direction, but there they found Aaina, burning towards them, screaming in rage and bristling with offensive energies.
Trapped, they had no choice. They attacked us. Emotions and thoughts, energy and matter, all of it flew at us in an orgy of sudden violence that churned the substrate of this world into a screaming chaos. All three of us linked our magics into a shield; a half-sphere of anti-magic that absorbed their attacks, sending the energy of which they were made back into into the swirling chaos around us.
They threw everything they had at us, a desperate last stand, driven by necessity and panic. All of it crashed against our defenses, the resulting streamers of magic filling the space around us with an all but impenetrable cloud. Hidden by that cloud, Ixy closed in.
By the time they realized that it was too late, it was over.
Ixy's physical body, that cloud-wrapped cacophony of maw-stalks, eye-stalks, spider-like legs and whipping tentacles, currently the size of a skyscraper, swept in, mouths snapping up the energies that were the cores of our quarry.
We came together when it was done. Inanna created a haven for us, allowing us to release the magic that held our bodies in stasis and protected us from the wild magic all around. It was a copy of our house, something she'd come up with a while back and shown to me with great pride. I had loved it, of course.
I sank into the loveseat with Inanna next to me as Aaina took the recliner.
"That's most of them," Aaina said.
"About thirty more," I replied. "And then we can start the next phase."
"Do either of you have any doubts about what we're doing?" she asked. I could see the indecision in her eyes. She was so young, and such a good girl. My heart broke at having dragged her into such dirty business.
"No," Inanna answered, her voice hard and confident.
"Yes," I added. "But at the end of the day, this is what needs doing."
Aaina looked back and forth between us, then nodded. None of us smiled.
----
Emily Windham, Wizard, Artificer Fremont, Nebraska, at the corner of E 4th Ave and N Main St Emily turned just in time to see the massive troll hit Jim Carmichael with a shoulder, sending the trooper flying before angling at her with no change in speed.
Acting on pure instinct, she conjured a wall of force between them. The troll slammed into it, shattering the magics that held it together with raw force, but the wall did its job, stopping the warrior in his tracks.
Emily snatched the rune-engraved knife off her belt and surged forward, jumping at the last second to put her in range of the troll's huge neck. The blade plunged in, and she released a quick burst of magic that made her legs and off hand sticky, allowing her to cling to the thing, too close for it to use its battleaxe on her.
She ripped the knife out and plunged it in again and again as the barbarian roared in pain and indignation at being hurt so badly by a foe so tiny. Emily grabbed his beard, yanking hard to bring his eyes to hers as she slammed the knife in and twisted, the magic in the blade telling her when it found his windpipe and carotid artery.
Blood sprayed, coating her face and shoulders. The troll's roars were cut off in a gurgling, breathy hiss. He stumbled, then fell. Emily rode him down, her eyes locked onto his, watching all hopes of victory, or even survival, fade from them. She lost herself in those eyes, in the mystery that was this troll's life, ending right before her. She saw the regrets, the crushed hopes, the shame of defeat and wondered at the context.
The impact as they hit the ground broke the spell.
Emily released the magic and stood up, instincts trained into her by the security troops and war wizards making her search for more threats before she could even process what had just happened. But there were no more threats. That had been the last one.
Greg Ramirez walked towards her, his rifle barrel pointed down, hanging from the sling in front of his armor and all the various attachments that he and the security troops referred to as their 'battle rattle'.
"Nice work," he said, eyeing the troll, who continued to gasp for air, the sound of his labored breaths reminding Emily of a pig squealing. She looked down, searching for that orgasmic feeling her bio-dad had so desperately wanted her to share with him, but not finding it. All she found was a sense of satisfaction, yet even that was too much.
Years of therapy, of telling her story to trained clinicians and listening to and internalizing their advice. All of it had helped her make friends and move among the normal people, but it had never erased that feeling of satisfaction. This was the fourth time she'd killed a sentient being, and each time, she felt the exact same way. It was a victory.
Her maudlin thoughts were interrupted by the bark of Greg's rifle. The troll's head jerked and deformed, a splattering of blood coming out as a .277 fury round drilled a hole straight through his temples. She glanced up to find Greg still eyeing her.
"You did good," he said, his expression showing some concern.
"I liked it," she said quietly, her eyes turning back.
"You liked killing him?" Greg asked. Emily nodded, wondering if she'd always be fucked up.
"I killed him," Greg said. "And I damn sure liked it."
Emily turned back, eyeing him with some interest. Greg was, in many ways, the opposite of her. Cool, confident, charming and just all-around well-adjusted. She hadn't ever imagined that he wound enjoy something like this.
"It means I won," he explained. "It means that big, badass motherfucker showed up here trying to bully us, and take whatever he wanted from us, and little old me stood up and said 'no', and when he tried to force the issue, I took his life away. It feels like justice. It feels like one less motherfucker trying to kill me and my friends. Damn straight I liked it."
Emily smiled. She didn't realized she had smiled until Greg smiled back.
"I read your psych eval," he went on. "I know you think you're fucked in the head, but I'm gonna tell you right now, you're not. You're a warrior, that's it. Bloodlust isn't a bad thing, if it can be controlled. Enjoying killing isn't a bad thing, if you're killing the people that need killing. Give yourself a break, girl."
He clapped her on the shoulder, then took the back of her head with his free hand and pressed her forehead to his.
"I'm gonna recommend you be allowed to join the war wizard roster. You're all trained up, you're prepared for it, and from what I've seen today, you're a fucking natural."
Without waiting for a response, he let her go and turned away, grabbing the radio fob on his armor and squeezing it.
"Black Lead, this is Black-Two Actual. All raiders at the target site are neutralized. We're commencing a sweep now, will report back in thirty mikes."
Emily smiled at his back as he walked away. A part of her reflected that he was a natural leader, knowing exactly what to say to her in that moment. Another part didn't care, because it worked. She glanced down at the troll again, and didn't see a victim.
She saw a victory.
----
Kathy Evenson, Professional Somewhere in the ruins of an ancient city in the Seventh World Kells shifted nervously as Kathy continued to cut chits from the electrical panel lid with the magical laser emerging from her fingertip. He held his machete, really a short sword, in one hand, and his dagger in the other.
"We really shouldn't be much longer, Kath," he said. Kathy had explained to him the difference between Kath and Kathy, and even hinted at the things she'd done while possessed by Pissface and calling herself 'Kath', and even gone into some detail about how much she hated the nickname. Kells hadn't cared. He simply agreed with her, then continued to call her 'Kath'.
And the truth was, she really didn't mind that much.
She wasn't quite sure why, though she could hazard a guess. The man was disarming to a great degree. He presented himself as a dirty wanderer, a simple, violent man who shouldn't be trusted as far as you could throw him. But within just a few minutes of meeting him, she'd seen the intelligence in his eyes and words. She had seen the integrity in his negotiations with her, and the ethics that had turned him protective when the Searchers had appeared.
And despite that protectiveness, he still managed to avoid being patronizing. When she'd told him how she planned to get his chits, he had warned her of the dangers, then agreed to come along without hesitation when she didn't change her mind. Kells was a good man, she thought, and if a good man wanted to call her Kath, she supposed she could let him reclaim the name from the hell it had once represented.
"It won't be much longer," she said. She already had over seven hundred, and this plate would bring her to eight hundred. She only needed five or six more. This deep in the ruins, there was an untouched electrical box on almost every building. Some had been corroded, but most were surprisingly intact.
As she cut the final strip into chits, a roar sounded. It was a gurgling, rasping roar, unlike anything she had ever heard before. Or rather, the first one had been unlike anything she had ever heard before. This was the third time she'd heard it, and it sounded closer than the last two.
"That's no good sign, right thur," Kells said.
Kathy finished, dumping the little squares of galvanized steel into her bag and standing up.
"Come on," she said. "We'll go a couple blocks away from whatever that was before I cut the next one."
"Aye," Kells agreed, his head swiveling on his shoulders as he followed her down the alley. Kathy took note of how spooked he was. He seemed more nervous here than he had with the Searchers right in front of him. She supposed that might have something to do with the nature of the threats. The Searchers were, regardless of power and reputation, mere humans. Whereas whatever was making that roar was clearly some sort of monster.
She led him six blocks in a direction away from the roar before she stopped to examine the buildings. They had moved into a downtown area, which was one of the reasons she had stopped. The buildings here were closer together, which should make the rest of her task quicker. She found a good cover and ripped the little padlock off, then pulled it open and off its hinges.
A mass of spiders rushed out of the electrical box. She jerked her hand away, but they ignored her, scurrying down the wall and vanishing into the cracks between the bricks, safe once again in enclosed darkness.
She began to cut as Kells again stood watch.
She hadn't even made it halfway through the panel when another roar sounded, even closer than the last, and from a different direction.
"Call it," Kells said. "Call it now, Kath. Better ye collect some more later on than deal with the beast makin' them sounds."
"What kind of beast?" Kathy asked. She kept cutting, but glanced up and around, not seeing anything but filthy, dilapidated alleys.
"Walkers, they call 'em," Kells said. "Like great spiders, but rottin' away, with bones stickin' out an' flesh hangin' off th'legs."
"Great spiders?" Kathy asked. "How big?"
"Bigger'n a building."
"You've seen them yourself?" Kathy asked.
"Only once," Kells said, his voice growing quieter. He seemed to be done speaking for a moment, staring around. But after a few seconds, he continued.
"Friend o'mine, name o' Gil. We used t'work together, he an' I. I were real new to runnin' a caravan crew back then, about ten years back. Gil were an old hand at it, though. Took me under 'is wing and taught me th'roads, as it were.
"Anyways, we'd taken a pair o' contracts. Rough ones, with a tight timetable. Merchants needed t'get to Freeman's Port post-haste. One faster'n th'other. Gil took that one, left me with the easier one, though that weren't t'say it were an easy job.
"We was in Craster's Holdfast at th'time, an smack in between there an' Freeman's Port were an ancient ruin. Big one, 'bout the size o' this'un, in fact. Normally, it took about a week t'travel between the two places, but if one were brave or foolhardy enough, they could cut through th'ruins an' make it in five days.
"Well, old Gil had that in mind. We left together, an' at th'place where ye normally would turn north t'go around the ruins, he led his caravan on straight. I prayed fer their safety that night, but never really believed anything would happen. Gil were an experienced caravaner, an' tougher'n anyone else I'd ever met.
"Two days later, we was walkin' this ridgeline north o'the ruins when somethin' called out t'me. Not sure what, exactly. I started lookin' south, scannin' the ruins, an' sure enough, I found Gil's caravan, walking down a wide road between th'largest buildings. They was movin' at quite a clip, I hav'ta say.
"I were tickled pink, at first. Because we'd made near as good a time as they had, despite movin' almost a day's north to skirt th'ruins. But as I watched, I realized that they weren't just travelin', they was runnin'."
Kells sighed, his eyes distant and full of old regrets.
"That's when I saw one. A great Walker, striding out o' th'deepest part o' th'ruins. The way it moved were like nothin' I ever seen before. It crawled along th'sides o' the ruins themselves, like a spider almost, but always with two or three feet on th'ground.
"It came fer th'caravan, and fell on 'em in a slaughter. I watched it breathe fire down on 'em, stompin' men flat with its feet an' scooping 'em up with its great claws."
He sighed again, then looked down. He tucked his sword under his armpit and used his hand to rub his eyes for a moment, before taking the blade up again.
"Killed 'em all, it did. Erry single one, as I live an' breath. An' when it were done, it went around, stompin' th'bodies flat. Never ate one, jes did all it could t'make sure that not a single survivor lived t'tell the tale. I were shook something fierce, I tell ya. Took me own caravan down off the ridge, t'avoid bein' spotted. We ended up arriving a day late, but to this day, I thank me lucky stars we made it at all."
Another sigh came, and Kathy heard the cracks in his voice as he continued on.
"Not Gil, though. Nor any o'them what worked for him, or th'merchant what hired him. A few years later, I worked up th'courage t'take a couple o'men into the ruins, t'find the bodies. I found bones dressed in Gil's clothes. I took his sword, which had survived, an' is th'one I carry to this day. I think Gil'd be pleased to know his blade had saved me life, quite a few times since."
Kathy finished cutting the cover up and stood to put her hands on Kells' shoulder.
"Thank you for telling me that," she said, her voice gentle. "I can tell it's an important story to you."
Kells nodded and sniffed once, then jerked his head in the direction away from the most recent roar. "I still think we should get out o' here, Kath," he said. "I'll face down the Searchers an' be happy o' a good death, should they take me. But them Walkers... They ain't warriors ye can face an' die with honor. One o'them things finds us, there ain't no fightin' it. We jes' die screaming, th'only consolation coming when it's all over."
Kathy weighed his words carefully. Kells knew this world far better than she did. And while she knew her own abilities far better than anyone here, she had to be mindful not to be too arrogant. Kells had told her how a single Walker had slaughtered an entire caravan of experienced fighters, led by an experienced leader.
"Okay," she said. She handed the bag to Kells. "There should be about eight hundred and fifty chits in there. You can count them out later, and I'll trust your count. After I find what I'm looking for, I'll collect the rest and we'll settle up."
"Good call," Kells said. He tied the bag off to his belt and walked to the corner of the building, peeking around. When he was satisfied, he nodded. Kathy joined him, and together, they made a beeline to the edge of the ruins.
They had made it about halfway out when another roar sounded, this one right on top of them. A rumbling crash sounded from her right, and Kathy turned to see rubble falling to the ground as something massive rose off the ground, two blocks over.
"Stars an' stones," Kells swore, then shouted "Run!"
I tried to open a clip on my home screen feed and it played mostly through but right at the last few seconds it started glitching out. I enabled debugging and got the following exception log:
AnnotationSpanHelper expected Spanned for: tv.twitch.android.app:plurals/up_next_vod_total_second
java.lang.RuntimeException at tv.twitch.android.core.crashreporter.CrashReporterUtil.throwDebugAndLogProd(CrashReporterUtil.kt:129) at tv.twitch.android.shared.ui.elements.span.annotation.AnnotationSpanHelper.createAnnotatedSpannable(AnnotationSpanHelper.kt:122) at tv.twitch.android.shared.autoplay.AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate$startAutoPlayTimer$1.invoke(AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate.kt:139) at tv.twitch.android.shared.autoplay.AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate$startAutoPlayTimer$1.invoke(AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate.kt:136) at tv.twitch.android.shared.autoplay.AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate.startAutoPlayTimer$lambda$2(AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate.kt:138) at tv.twitch.android.shared.autoplay.AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate.$r8$lambda$mqSRAbBLJXk4ApIBawHBJPcyxSI(AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate.kt:0) at tv.twitch.android.shared.autoplay.AutoplayOverlayViewDelegate$$ExternalSyntheticLambda2.accept(R8$$SyntheticClass:0) at io.reactivex.internal.observers.LambdaObserver.onNext(LambdaObserver.java:63) at io.reactivex.internal.operators.observable.ObservableObserveOn$ObserveOnObserver.drainNormal(ObservableObserveOn.java:201) at io.reactivex.internal.operators.observable.ObservableObserveOn$ObserveOnObserver.run(ObservableObserveOn.java:255) at io.reactivex.android.schedulers.HandlerScheduler$ScheduledRunnable.run(HandlerScheduler.java:119) at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:938) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:233) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8063) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method) at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:631) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:978)