Brick bbq smoker plans

My husband (30s M) and I (30 F), got married recently and bought a home about 8 months ago. We still haven't had a housewarming because we were overwhelmed planning a wedding but our family and friends are eager to see the house so we want to have a housewarming. I thought it would be a cool idea to do something other than gifts since we just had a wedding. We have a big yard and we have to lay our mulch soon so I came up with the idea to do a "mulch and munch" (I know the name needs work) but the idea is to have everyone come over and help us lay the mulch and then we'll BBQ and bonfire after. My husband thinks it's a terrible idea asking people for free labor. I feel like the people who hold us dear in their hearts would be happy to help. It's just mulch, not asking them to build a fence or something. Please help. I need ideas.

Don't get me wrong. I'm truly curious, and this question I've been carrying for over a year.
Im a 30 m
Objectively I have lived a terrible odds stacked against me from the start. I was born to a father that took my mother faraway to a farm and isolated us he was quite the abuser with my self going Tru all 5 different tipes my siblings 4 and the youngest only 2 I was the only one that was s## abused. From as Yong as I can remember I plead my mother to leve. Turned in to a super Cristian thus a wife's purpose is to be subject to her husband. Evan though she also went true all 5 she was even r## infront of me.
I mentioned we grew up on a farm in isolated he would work construction jobs all over Africa so most of the time we would be left alone. Work 4 months home 6 weeks the first day that he is back he cums with takeaways and cool drinks and it's a celebration it would normally only be calm for 2-3 days when he would get angry normally before we were to go buy groceries. Witch ment we will have to put that car together and fix it that's normally tha first day that I would blead if it's not from a tool it's because I woed gow far into the field to hide then it would be his lether belt my but would be blue And red brushe sometimes my skin woed split open and blend every time I moved.
The first time I saw a classroom or a teacher was at the age of 13 we got a tv for the first time at the age of 12 so obviously I had no sosial skills it was just a few days a group of bullies introduced me so that was not fun until a few months later when the hieschool librarian looked over our class.
My mom dit taught me to read and math and science (only biblical accurate) so I started reading at 4 at 5 I was at the level of gr3 had to develop my own horrible handwriting. I was good at math though my mom only knew +×÷- and fractions to the second point
The library was my heavin in 3 years personally I graduated done with every book in the library besides most of the story books The problem was I couldn't really speak English I only got exposed to it from the TV so I was on my way to fail Gr6 I didn't during the last term my dad left for work again but this time it was longer we ran out of food and my mom finally ran away with her 5 kids pregnant and starving all the food we had fit into a shoe box and ther was space for my brothers favorite little teddy 🧸 about the size of a tennis ball
We moved to the city we're I found out my mom has siblings thy help us with some basic it was crazy there I could not even cross the streets thy were 3 lanes mutch to wide for a teen cross with out getting run over starting high school I decided I would be the opposite of my history so on the first day I broke the head boy a rather big rugby player nose. That showd them I was never bullied and yet still not cool so I joined the skateboarders I was terrible but they had issues and I'm nothing but broken metal head started smoking never touched weed that's drugs glue as well it makes youcrazy. Though sometimes we would snort white power at the mall. Only after a few months in class I found out there are more tips of drugs. To late now I'm a cat addicted our group grew and we became the popular group we were 40 in the core group if we threw a party 200 people show up I mean some college students started hanging with them college girls hang with me at 17 so obviously the heiskool girls thru them at me nonstop sleeping with 2-3 a night never not wrapped always save. Until I slept with one I actually cared for but not as much as she for me so to get here to disappear I seduced her sister on her bed so she could walk in on that. 3 day later she was found dead in the bath with a letter to her parents on their bed and a long letter for me in her sister underwear full of her blood for me.
My next relationship was my fiance Finally quit drugs 3 years later Completely thought ow yeah remember that I was so smart well turns out I failed gr 9 almost twice shortly before the second time time my mother lost her job I was still partying her savings didn't last we got evicted ran out of food so I quit school and started buying thing from drug dealers and sell them it wasn't long before I afforded a bigger house some time later I moved out paying 2 rents going crazy the drugs were not fun any more my friends are dieing on after the other some go to prison I fought my best friend. I saw what was happening because of the drugs I walk 70 km that weekend faar into the field to escape only with my knife. Not the plan but I lived there for 3 weeks alone my phone is still there somware I came back sober no friends
I didn't fin school so it's only min wage for 3 years trying multiple business all fail until I lost my job again. One day I dit a car port for a lady little did I know that in justover 7 years 2 months before covid i will loos. A my greatest business in going to 8 figure this time 100% legal in one writing of a pen and waist all my saving on loyars to get it back lost my fiance and only child
Went into depression
tryed and failed 3 more business Good diagnose with add and adhd Over came depression Diagnosis with ptsd Found out my 5 year old son is not evan myn Depression again Gave up trying at all tried drugs again for 2 months give up on that two
Move back to the farm where it all started farm is falling It's sort off failng less
Depressioni quit low
And finally today im bulding my own shop with bricks i made my self everything wants to fail this sometimes its so close.
And yeah true all of that's I can honestly say I never had suicide Evan as a though to be a option
Seriously why would I not just end me but I just don't have that option ever

I thought I’d make a post here about finding a roommate to get some more reach, due to being in an llc and having a limited amount of people to choose from 😅
DM me if you are interested in communicating, whether messages or social media (insta or discord). If you would like to call to communicate one day, I’m good with that too, just let me know :)
I’ll insert any roommate related questions or profiles/descriptions I have made below:
—————————
VT Roommate Question Answers-
What is your smoking preference in a roommate: No, prefer a non-smoker.
Bed Time: Between 10pm - Midnight.
Wake Up Time: Early-ish (7am - 9am).
My preferred room/study atmosphere is: Somewhat quiet normally with study.
Room Tidiness: Orderly
—————————
Describe Yourself and What You Seek in a Roommate:
I'm more of an introverted person, but become more comfortable once I get to know someone. I'm on the neater side and organized. I'm a night person and don't mind some sound during sleeping and studying. I want to work out more, but sometimes struggle to go alone.
I am not super picky when it comes to a roommate. Someone who is clean, organized. Recognize the dorm room as our space, just ask about having people over. Someone willing to communicate and reach out first (-v-") —————————
MeetYourClass Post:
Hi, I’m Sofia! I’m from Roanoke, VA and I am planning on majoring in CMDA. I am more academically focused, but I’m down to hang out, study, explore, and etc. with friends whenever I’m free. I like to binge watch shows or movies, read books, and play games. I tend to cycle through a lot of interests, currently it is K-Pop! I’m definitely more of an introvert, and will just be trying to survive more than anything (-v-“). I’m in Impact LLC and searching for a roommate, so feel free to reach out :D
—————————

I am dentist from Turkey, 25Male. I started smoking at 15 and quit at my age of 25! I graduated from university 2 years ago. In Turkey there is an exam for dentists to be expertise in any subject. Which is called DUS. One of the hardest exams in Turkey. You study 8-12 hours with chronometer. From morning to night like 1-2 years and you compete with other dentist in your country. And I started to study for it. The thing is I woke up at 6 in the morning everyday and I studied till I sleep. The subjects are too complex. You sit on a chair whole day (it had been 3 months and I still have chronic neck and back pain. Having physiotherapy for it :(. You are in a room for all day/ whole week. No socialisation. And you are always stressful cause you know you are compiting with other nerds who studies 12 hour a day etc. Anxiety, depression, loneliness any kind of bad feeling is in this shit. After a point it feels like hell. You have idea of what was my situation.
I only had two things. One was to study, other one was to smoke. My only prize was to smoke after a long studying sessions. I was someone already who had a huge smoking addiction. I wouldn't just smoke ciggarete. I would inhale with all of my lungs till tobacco burns like volcano. If you are addicted enough you know what I mean :). And this Exam thing put me in a very bad situation. I went from smoking 1 packet to 2 packets. I wouldn't think anything other than ciggaratte. I would snatch the filters of my ciggarettes to inhale nicotine better. Imagine how addicted I was to that shit.
And it was like 3 months till the exam. My most stresfull days were came. And I had huge cough attacks. I was lying my parents about my coughs. I would always say them I got flu or something :) I knew it was ciggaratte that was giving me cough attacks. But I was lying to myself. Never accepted it but Ciggaratte was already cursed me. I had other symptoms of COAH too. (whizzling, shortness of breath etc.)
One day I just ended my studying session for the day. I got into the bed and was coughing like hell. I was mentally drained. I was the most unhappy person in the earth. I had no morals to live. I was crying to myself about Exam. I had already lost my health. I had nothing in my hands. I was going to smoke because I felt sad. and I just said to myself. I wasnt going to be a victim. I had enough. I was going to fight myself. Just got on my computer and wondered how people on earth quits smoking? I googled it up and bumped on a post at reddit about allen carr. In first I thought it was a bullshit or something. I found it funny to quit smoking just by a book. How could it be possible? And I thought I had nothing to lose and read the book till half that night. Had a half pack of ciggarette. Threw it in thrash can. It was never on my mind to quit smoking. But it just happened and in the morning I was a person who was trying to quit smoking. First 3 days gone hard. Everytime I felt withdrawals I said to myself "You see what does this poison do to you, This is a fucking dope. And this withdrawals proves such a toxic thing it is!" So everytime I had withdrawals I thought that this shit was a dope and it was evil. But after 3 days I just realized I was good with it. I was feeling much better. next week I started to run and do sports . While I was studying I would give myself a 1hour break in the middle of the day. And would go to run or to play soccer. I couldnt believe to myself. Just in 1 week I was breathing again. Life was colourfull again. and days gone like these. now I am a person who plays soccer, who runs in his freetime, goes to gym etc. ( I would be breathless if I had walked from my home to market when I smoked.)
And There is one very important I want to say to people. I wish I had know how easy was it to quit smoking. Whole media, market, internet is planned to teach people it is "Hard to quit smoking". This Idea is engraved in every person's brain by media. I remember from my childhood till this day. Every body told me about how hard it is to quit smokking. Every commercial, every elder person I know, every friend(Even the non-smokers think it is very hard to quit smoke). It is all bullshit! QUITTING SMOKING IS EASY! Don't be afraid! Don't be coward! It is freaking easy! That is it. Media traps you in that idea "to Quit Smoking is Hard". Just know that idea is bullshit. And give a try to quit smoking! I Will be try to active and reply if you have any questions. Just believe in yourself! Nothing is bigger than you.

I’ve been kicking around the thought of getting in buying btc finally and there are multiple things that worry me. In no particular order:

1. What are the fees like? If I were to buy in at $64,000 what kind of fees am I expected to incur? On top of that what fees are there for selling? Are there also fees for withdrawing and depositing?
   
2. Speaking of withdrawing. I’ve looked into the cold wallets on Amazon and see poor reviews on say the Trezor wallet. Ppl saying they brick and they’ve lost their btc that was stored there. Not to mention others talking about the need to verify the wallet integrity to be sure it’s safe.
   
3. Is there a safe way to store it without having to do the whole cold wallet thing? I’ve read ppl saying you can get hacked storing it online. I’ve considering buying into the etf but the management fees seems steep and everyone says it’s not your btc if you buy into it.
   

I’ve followed bitcoin loosely for a few years and never really considered buying into it. Now that I’m considering it, it just seems like it’s not a very straightforward process in safely obtaining it/maintaining it. I’m 30 with a good retirement plan set in place and just wanted to diversify some more.

Went on a Wednesday in Mid-May, after reading lots of tips and tricks here. 4y + 1y. The kids had so much fun, we ended up converting our single passes to annual passes at the end of the day. I found it to be so well thought out for little kids. Even the bathrooms had low sinks, and hand dryers for littles. And lots of family restrooms and the stalls in the regular bathrooms were wide so you could bring your toddler in with you and not be cramped. We had no issue whatsoever bringing in snacks and re-fillable water bottles from home. Note: when going through the gates, you have to empty your stroller of all bags, so don't spend time meticulously packing it in the parking lot, only to have to empty it and re-pack like we did.
We arrived around 9:30 to get into the gates before opening because we wanted to get coffees, buy some stuff at the big store and go to the bathroom, etc before getting into the main areas. Well, the coffee machine was broken, and the big store was closed until later, I think because it was such a slow morning. Not sure when it opened, but maybe 11ish? So our morning plan was a bust. We talked to an MC later and they said it was a slow day, only 3000 in the park, versus 10-15k on a busy summer day.
Once 10am hit, we went straight to the back area where the medieval themed area is to meet other people arriving through the back hotel gate. We were a few of maybe 15 people in the area. My 4yo was able to ride the medieval horse ride, 3x in a row without getting off because there were no other people waiting. As we made our way back towards the front, things started filling in, but we were still able to ride rides a few times in a row until about 11:30 or so. FYI, the medieval themed area is very shady compared to the rest of the park, so if it's a really hot day and you need a break, then maybe head back there. The wooden playground was very novel for my kids and they loved it. We slowly made our way around the circle to the front of the park, checking everything out along the way since it was everyone's first time.
We stopped for lunch at the pizza buffet. Had planned to do the BBQ place but we didn't want to double back. This was a good choice for little kids. Salad bar had lots of stuff for the 1yo - peas, corn, chickpeas, cheese, shredded carrots, etc. And pizza, pasta and mac n cheese. Pizza surprisingly good for a theme park. Drinks included, but only soda, no milk or juice for kids (that I saw). When we arrived it was empty (12:45), but by the time we left at 1:30 it was insanely busy with a huge line to get in/get to the buffet. So come early or come after lunch hour. After lunch we made our way through miniland, over to funtown and then through lego movie area and dino valley back to the entrance. We kind of had to blow through funtown (except duplo) and lego movie/dino valley due to lack of time.
Rides 4yo loved most: Medieval horse ride, little airplane ride, beetle bounce and lost kingdom in the adventure land area, bioncle blasteteacups and dino valley stuff, too. Technic coaster was too much for him.
Ride 1yo loved most: little airplane ride and carousel
Playgrounds: Duplo and the wooden one at the back were the fav of both 4 and 1 yos. 4yo also loved the one with the flying balls in adventure land. I personally thought the ninjago one was the coolest.
Other items of interest: 4yo was obsessed with going around miniland and pushing all of the buttons to make stuff happen. Dance party at the end of the day at the front stage near the entrance. The build your boat to race attraction was a big hit, too. The adults really enjoyed the SD part of miniland, especially the funny inside jokes, like the "Allbertos" taco shop, IYKNK :D
Thanks again to this sub for all the info and insight!

It’s been a while since I’ve introduced myself to the community, and wanted to let newer members know I’m here to support this subreddit! My sole job is to help answer questions about our service, provide support for Customer Service needs and help find resolutions for problems a member may have with our service.
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions by newer members or potential customers.

• Why is my payment getting denied or giving an error when attempting to sign up?
  • The payment method used should be a debit or credit card from an established bank with brick and mortar locations, that is able to be used for AutoPay. Some eBanks are not accepted. If you’re still having trouble signing up, please ensure the address used is the one associated with your credit report. Now if that still does not work, please send me a chat and I can try to help determine if something else is keeping you from becoming a member! Please keep in mind that not everyone will be eligible to sign up for the service.
• Can I test out the service before porting over my line?
  • Though we understand wanting to test out the service before bringing your number or whole family over, we want to ensure potential members know we cannot currently port in a number to an active line. We can only port phone numbers into new lines pending activation. Due to this, if you truly want to test out the service first without porting a number, we’d recommend only signing up for our Infinite Unlimited plan and not financing any devices. This way, if you’re wanting to port in a number later on, you can do so with a new line and cancel the original one.
• When can I log in to the app?
  • Once an order is placed, our system needs to process your order and create an account for you. It takes about ~48-72 hours to receive a confirmation email, and once you do, you will be able to log in to the Boost Infinite app.
• What do I need to do to activate my line?
  • Whether you're porting in a number or activating a new one, using a pSIM or eSIM, activating a new device or a BYOD, our Welcome Center FAQ is a great resource and will provide you with all the information you need to successfully activate your service! We also have a Care team dedicated to activations who will happily assist you!
• Why wasn’t I placed on the Smart Network?
  • Our network is still being built out and improved! There are a set of requirements that need to be met to be placed on our network, two big factors being device and location. There are other factors that determine which network a member is placed on. If you have a compatible device but are BYOD, you may be placed on our network but without knowing if the device is compatible before activation, it is more likely you’ll be placed on a partner network. For more information on our network, such as a list of compatible devices and locations, check out our FAQ!

These are just some of the questions commonly seen in our community, but if you have more, please post them below and I’ll try to answer them the best I can!
Lastly, I want to remind everyone in our community that if you’re experiencing any issues with your service, I'm only a chat away! The quickest way to get assistance is to send me a chat. I will provide directions on how to provide your account information securely, so please don’t send any personal information before I’m able to do so. Reddit doesn’t encrypt their chats and we take your security very seriously. Though I'm a team of one, I'll work hard to provide resolutions for anyone who needs help. I’m available to reach Monday-Friday from 8 am MT to 5 pm MT. If you’re hesitant to reach out because you’ve spoken to our Care team various times, rest assured I’m equipped to handle escalated issues and work directly with our internal teams.
I look forward to continuing supporting our community!

Welcome to CatCraft!
CatCraft is a smaller, adult only, community focused Minecraft server.
We started Season 1 on April 4, 2019. With the launch of 1.18, we began Season 2 in December 2021 to make the most of the new biomes. Our intention is a long term world, with a slow world border expansion as new 1.X updates are released. Currently, we're running 1.20.4, with a world border set at 15k in every direction. Our server is hosted in Ashburn, VA, on the eastern seaboard of the USA.
While we're a small-ish community (usually between 30 and 80 total active members), the admin staff is passionate about keeping the server going and providing as many quality of life options as possible. On top of having a Survival server, we also have a Creative server with world edit, as well as an Event server on standby for (a hopeful!) monthly UHC, community planned events, or the occasional ModPack. Bluemap runs on both Creative and Survival, as well as a discord Chat Bot.
Pictures Here!
Server Rules

1. Don't be a dick. I really think this kind of sums up all the rules, but I'll spell it out.
2. Don't steal shit, dupe, or grief. See rule 1.
3. We're a strict 21+ server. We are not child friendly. Swearing is fine, within reason. If that makes you uncomfortable, we are not the place for you.
4. PVP is turned on. This is not an excuse to be an asshole and snipe people. Play fair, help the loser pick up their stuff, and return all the things. See rule 1.
5. No hacking. No x-ray. No duping. No forcefield. Whatever might give you an unfair advantage.
6. Pranking is fine, within reason. Don't destroy someone's shit, or cover it with TNT and call it a prank.
7. In your application, please include your favorite breed of cat.
8. Patch up creeper holes, fully chop down trees, and don't leave dirt towers around. We all have to live here, let's try to keep it pretty looking.
9. Sign your stuff, keep the server easy to navigate.
10. Don't kill withers in the over-world. Just don't. It never goes well. Under the end portal please.
11. It's Fine.

Other Important Details

• No Enderman Griefing
• End Dragon drops an elytra, egg, and head
• AFK Detection
• Custom Trapdoor, bark block, stair, and carpet recipes.
• Back to Blocks
• Renewable Coral
• Ice is uncraftable
• 4 brick blocks instead of one
• Mending and Infinity on bows
• And a nametag mob silencer
• Universal Dyeing
• CoordinatesHUD
• Armor Stand Book
• Custom Head Selling Villagers
• All mobs have a chance of dropping heads
• Custom PVE group boss and single player dungeons.
• Fast Leaf Decay
• Redstone and Terracotta Wrenches
• Villager Workstation Highlights
• PVP Head Drop
• Craftable Light Blocks

More info on the above, or an application can be found on our Discord.

Welcome to CatCraft!
CatCraft is a smaller, adult only, community focused Minecraft server.
We started Season 1 on April 4, 2019. With the launch of 1.18, we began Season 2 in December 2021 to make the most of the new biomes. Our intention is a long term world, with a slow world border expansion as new 1.X updates are released. Currently, we're running 1.20.4, with a world border set at 15k in every direction. Our server is hosted in Ashburn, VA, on the eastern seaboard of the USA.
While we're a small-ish community (usually between 30 and 80 total active members), the admin staff is passionate about keeping the server going and providing as many quality of life options as possible. On top of having a Survival server, we also have a Creative server with world edit, as well as an Event server on standby for (a hopeful!) monthly UHC, community planned events, or the occasional ModPack. Bluemap runs on both Creative and Survival, as well as a discord Chat Bot.
Pictures Here!
Server Rules

1. Don't be a dick. I really think this kind of sums up all the rules, but I'll spell it out.
2. Don't steal shit, dupe, or grief. See rule 1.
3. We're a strict 21+ server. We are not child friendly. Swearing is fine, within reason. If that makes you uncomfortable, we are not the place for you.
4. PVP is turned on. This is not an excuse to be an asshole and snipe people. Play fair, help the loser pick up their stuff, and return all the things. See rule 1.
5. No hacking. No x-ray. No duping. No forcefield. Whatever might give you an unfair advantage.
6. Pranking is fine, within reason. Don't destroy someone's shit, or cover it with TNT and call it a prank.
7. In your application, please include your favorite breed of cat.
8. Patch up creeper holes, fully chop down trees, and don't leave dirt towers around. We all have to live here, let's try to keep it pretty looking.
9. Sign your stuff, keep the server easy to navigate.
10. Don't kill withers in the over-world. Just don't. It never goes well. Under the end portal please.
11. It's Fine.

Other Important Details

• No Enderman Griefing
• End Dragon drops an elytra, egg, and head
• AFK Detection
• Custom Trapdoor, bark block, stair, and carpet recipes.
• Back to Blocks
• Renewable Coral
• Ice is uncraftable
• 4 brick blocks instead of one
• Mending and Infinity on bows
• And a nametag mob silencer
• Universal Dyeing
• CoordinatesHUD
• Armor Stand Book
• Custom Head Selling Villagers
• All mobs have a chance of dropping heads
• Custom PVE group boss and single player dungeons.
• Fast Leaf Decay
• Redstone and Terracotta Wrenches
• Villager Workstation Highlights
• PVP Head Drop
• Craftable Light Blocks

More info on the above, or an application can be found on our Discord.

Throwaway Account
My family and I (young adult male) usually always take my grandma (around 80s) out for Mother’s Day. This year my uncle (around 60s) was with us. He lives pretty far from all of us but he came down to visit while he was taking leave from school. His grade were not good at all because of mental health so he’s been staying with my grandma for a few months. He has a girlfriend that he’s still together with, but hasn’t seen her in 2 years. He’s never been involved in our Mother’s Day plans before but this year it was different.
For Mother’s Day we were all going to take my grandma to a nice Korean BBQ restaurant. My mother (also around 60s) texted the group chat, and told everyone the plan. My Uncle said that he already made reservations for a restaurant at our local casino. The restaurants in there are very high end, but the problem was that my grandma had a gambling problem in the past, so going to a casino was an issue.
My mom told him that she’s worried that this would make her want to gamble and my uncle was telling my mom not to worry and that we would go in, eat dinner, and leave. My mom reluctantly agreed but still thought it was a bad idea to even think about exposing her to something that she’s had problems with in the past.
So on Mother’s Day we were all getting ready to go out to the casino. My mom texted my uncle that we would pick them both up in 20 minutes. My uncle texted back that they do not need a ride and that grandma could drive him there while we ride separately. Now my grandma during this time had a dislocated shoulder and still has one. My uncle can’t drive because he’s legally blind. Neither of them are capable of driving and my mom got mad that he would even suggest letting his own mother drive. He told my mom that my grandma has been driving him around for the past week and has been fine. Now my grandma is a sweet woman, so I’m sure she actually was not fine with it but did it anyway. My mom was livid and she called him for an explanation. I don’t know all of what was said in the phone call, but it wasn’t good.
My mom called my aunt (around 50s) and told her about what happened. She told my mom that this was the reason she wouldn’t try so desperately to see him whenever he came to town. My mom talked to all of us about the situation. She and I are in agreement that we don’t want to see him anymore until something changes (context, a lot of our family friends have expressed that he is very bitter and unpleasant and they don’t want to be around him either). My dad (around 60s) and sister (young adult) think that it’s wrong to cut family out like that. A few of my friends think that this is too much and think that my mom and I are being unreasonable. I know that there are a lot of people who value family over everything, but I just don’t see this guy as family anymore with all the things he’s done. There’s more that he’s done, but making a list would make this much longer than it needs to be. So Reddit, AITA?

I’m not really sure how much background to give to this but I will say I have a therapist, I’m working through some serious trauma (loss of a child), and chronically ill.
I don’t know what to do now. My car started breaking down a few months ago. Got it fixed and ended up being in debt 2000$ (car value 2800), then the car stopped again. At which point I was pretty pissed because they were supposed to have run codes and said nothing came back even though the check engine light has BEEN on for a while now.
Then my partner finally got a job after months of us applying and both trying. It wasn’t much but 12$ hr would do. Then our first bike broke down, that’s fine he has another. Then he wipes out getting waters from the gas station for us bc it was night and traffic is crazy. So he couldn’t work. (Got injured doing ok now. Still healing)
House is falling apart. We live in an rv because I was previously in a bad situation and had to get out, it was my cheapest option since I didn’t have friends (grew up moving a lot.) sink faucet is broken, water isn’t safe to drink, haven’t had hot water in 6m cause we can’t afford propane, then the floor started going soft, and now the outlets sizzle and smoke so we can’t use them.
Don’t have a washer or dryer or car so I’ve been washing everything by hand in the sink with hot water from a tea kettle
Now we have an extension cord coming in from outside
We don’t have Wi-Fi at home and only my partner has a phone plan with limited data so all Wi-Fi goes to job search and isn’t good enough to work from home or start a small business on.
There is a clay studio near us and we took a class together a few months ago so we thought about doing pottery there and selling it but they won’t email me back and require you to email them to schedule a time to come in and prove competency.
We can’t do online school because of the Wi-Fi issue and I got locked out of my school stuff when my phone got shut down. My school has been of no help and says I need to contact another company which without Wi-Fi again is a struggle.
The nearest coffee shop or Walmart with Wi-Fi is near where he worked which is a 2hr walk minimum and we live in fl
I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel so lost. I want to keep moving forward but every direction is a brick wall
TL;DR what do you do when you are broke without a car or bike and everything is far away? How do you get out of the financial gutter without Internet.

Hey Yall. I live in Raleigh and will be in town for a work event that I’m in charge of planning. Im itching for some good barbecue and would love to treat the group to the best Greenville has to offer.
Where is a good place to take a group of 30 people for some dine in BBQ on a Tuesday around lunchtime?
I’ve had Parker’s, B’s, and Sam Jones, but I’m not familiar with their brick and mortar locations or if they would be able to seat us. We wouldn’t have to sit all together but would definitely be willing to break up into smaller tables.
Any recommendations yall would be willing to offer would be greatly appreciated!

Hi I have a brick chimney I plan on using for a log burner on the bottom floor. I plan on boarding the chimney on the second floor, should I use fire board for this? The second floor does have an opening but is separate to the one downstairs.

The pain was the worst thing`Dominick Mason had ever known…and he knew what it felt like to die. It felt like his brain was in a blender, being chopped to liquid for a Jeffery Dahmer smoothie and though it seemed melodramatic, he imagined he could feel himself losing brain cells by the minute. The sun, Merrick told him, would not burn him, but it would decay him faster, so sleep or rest during the day. With the sick, throbbing agony in the center of his brain, however, that was impossible. He spent most of the day curled up on his side, hugging his knees, and moaning. He had flashbacks to dying in his apartment, and that made things even worse. The room became too small, too close, the air too stale. His heart, filled with the blood of last night’s meal, pounded in his chest, and he went from slightly chilly to hot and feverish as blood was forced through his circulatory system. It mixed with the embalming fluid and left him feeling full and constipated. He didn’t want to get up, but he also didn’t want to go on lying there. He was the definition of miserable.
Before long, the pain became too great and he got up to pace, pressing his hands to the sides of his head and gritting his teeth. Merrick, who slept very little if at all, sat in his chair and watched, trying his best to talk him through it. “It’ll be over soon,” Merrick said. “The pain receptors in your brain are the first to go. When they burn out, you won’t feel anything.”
“When?” Dom asked, his voice raising with the tide of pain.
“A couple days?”
“A couple days???”
“The pain will lessen gradually,” Merrick said, “this is the worst of it.”
Dom believed that this was, indeed, the worst of it, but he doubted it would lessen gradually. For the rest of the day, the pain got worse and worse until every light blinded him, every sound turned his stomach, and the smell of anything made his gorge rise. The cloying smell of the embalming fluid, the light but unmistakable odor of dead flesh, and the scent of stale blood sitting in decomposing stomachs made him want to vomit, but he was afraid to. He didn’t think he could handle the sight of blood rushing from his mouth and splattering the floor. He still possessed enough of his facilities, he believed, to go insane.
Pain has a way of darkening one’s mood, and by the time the sun began to set, Dom was in the most sour mood possible. Even Merrick’s calm, fatherly voice was beginning to get on his nerves. When he took the oath to him the day before (or was it the day before that?), he turned his faith and trust over to Merrick entirely. He was finally accepted, included, finally had the love and fellowship that, in the pit of his soul, he had always wanted. Merrick understood him, Merrick was kind to him.
But deep down, Dom realized that he didn’t fully trust him. He said that his brain didn’t rot because he was “lucky.” That sounded like some bullshit to Dom. Why wasn’t Joe a blithering idiot too? Was he lucky as well? Did lightning strike in the same place twice? In life, people had done nothing but hurt and lie to Dom. Why would death be any different? He thought back to the strange liquid that always seemed to leak from Merrick’s nose, and Joe’s. He thought it was embalming fluid, but it never leaked from his own nose, or from anyone else’s. He tried to tell himself that it was far too soon to judge, but once he began to doubt something, his mind raced away. He felt a twinge of guilt, as Merrick had done absolutely nothing to deserve his doubt, but goddamn it, his head was on fire and he wanted it to stop. Anything to make it stop.
Just after sundown, the music began as Club Vlad opened for the night. It throbbed in the center of Dom’s head and made him want to claw his eyes out. When it became too much for him, he slipped away and stumbled into the sultry summer night. He came out in the alley running behind the club, clutching his head and breathing through bared teeth. He staggered, bumped into a metal trash can, and roared at the top of his lungs, as if he could purge himself of the pain by screaming.. His voice echoed and came back to him, making the pain worse.
Merrick was lying. He knew it. People always lied to him. His brain was rotting and PEOPLE WERE LYING! Flashing with anger, he slammed his fist into the brick wall of a Chinese restaurant. He barely felt anything so he did it again and again until his hand was lumpy and shaking. He sat heavily on the ground and pressed his hands to his head. It felt like maggots were burrowing into his brain, and he was suddenly terrified that they really were. He needed to stop this awful pain, but how?
An idea came to him.
The funeral home.
Maybe there was something there.
He was on his feet and lumbering there before the thought had even finished reverberating through his mind. It was a long shot, but he was desperate. On the way there, he stuck to the shadows, staying out of the light cast by the streetlamps and avoiding people. When he passed them, he kept his head down. When he reached the funeral home, he went to the back door where he and Jessie had gone the other day. He tried it, and it opened.
Inside, he bounced off the walls like a pinball, knocking over an end table and tearing at the flesh of his head, pulling it away in long, gray strips. He panted like a wild animal, his body a raging tempest of emotions. It was reaching a crescendo, he thought, his brain was about to go supernova. The world dimmed, things got really echoy. The young man he’d picked the embalming fluid up from was there, looking scared.
Flashing, Dom grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall, knocking a painting of a flowery field to the carpet. Everything seemed to go in slow mo. “How does Merrick keep his brain from rotting?” Dom heard himself demanding from far away. “How does he keep the pain away?”
The man trembled. “I-I-”
Dom slammed him again. “Tell me or I’ll make you like me.”
“No!” the man wailed. He shook his head from side to side, his eyes wet with fear.
“How?”
“He-He uses a solution,” the man stammered. “Some kind of special thing. It preserves his brain. That’s all I know.”
An idea occurred to Dom.
Holding the man by the back of his neck, Dom dragged him into the embalming room and pushed him against the table. His head felt like it was swelling. Hot, screaming, getting ready to explode. He looked around, found the embalming machine, and grabbed the hose. There was a sharp tip on it so that you could jam it into a body. He held it in his hand, hesitating for just a moment before pressing it to his temple. The man watched in horror as Dom slowly shoved the tip into his head. It tore his flesh, broke through his skull, and sank into his brain. He felt no pain, only pressure, but cried out anyway. His eyes rolled up into his head and a shudder went through his body.
“Turn it on!” he yelled.
“That’s not what he -”
“TURN IT ON!”
Starting, the man turned the machine on. Cold embalming fluid squirted directly into Dom’s brain. Almost at once, the pain began to ebb away, replaced only by a fuzzy sense of numbness. His knees buckled and he sank to the floor, looking for all the world like an addict taking a hit of his favorite substance after a long and trying day. Fluid leaked from his nose, ears, and eyes and dripped down the back of his throat.
The man waited for a long time, then turned the machine off.
The pain was gone.
At least for now.
“Tell me again,” Dom said.
The man did. Merrick used a special preserving agent to keep his brain intact. Joe, the man suspected, got it as well. So Merrick had lied to him.
Dom felt betrayed.
And angry.
Leaving the man (Dom realized that he didn’t even know his name), he walked back to Club Vlad, his hands fisted in his pockets. All his life, he had been hurt, lied to, and ignored. All his life, people had done wrong to him. And all those years, he just took it.
He resolved not to be so accepting in death.
At last, he was going to stop being a sniveling little bitch and stand up for himself.
When he reached Club Vlad, he slammed through the back door and took the stairs two at a time. At the top, he called out Merrick’s name. The old man was sitting in his chair, being attended to by Jessie and Matt. He looked startled when Dom came in. “You lied to me,” Dom said, stalking over to his benefactor.
“What are you talking about?” Merrick asked, doing his best to sound innocent.
“You lied to me!” Dom screamed. He bent over and got so close to Merrick’s face that he could have kissed him. “You told me there was no way to save my brain, but that’s not true. You’re pumping your head full of shit and letting the rest of us rot.”
A dark shadow flickered across Merrick’s face. “Watch your tone when you talk to me,” he said. His voice was low, menacing.
“Fuck you,” Dom said. “I should k -”
Suddenly, Dom was being grabbed from behind and yanked back, an arm around his neck. He cried out in alarm as Joe swung him around and slammed him face first into the wall. He heard his nose crunch, felt his teeth shatter. Next, Joe wrestled him to the glitter-sprinkled floor and wedged his knee between his shoulder blades.
Merrick watched with a sneer of disgust, his hands gripping the arms of his chair. He wheeled himself over, Jessie holding his IV stand steady and following behind. “Listen, you son of a bitch,” Merrick said, “you’re lucky to be a part of this family.”
Cold fear filled the pit of Dom’s stomach, yet he wouldn’t back down, couldn’t back down. He had lived his entire life like a mouse in a burrow, he wasn’t about to live his entire death the same way.
“Fuck your family,” he said defiantly. “And fuck you.”
Merrick’s face darkened and he sat back in his chair. He looked at Jessie and nodded. She went away and came back a moment later holding something in her hand. Dom’s eyes widened when he saw what it was.
A wooden stake, one end honed to a razor point.
Why they had one of those lying around, Dom didn’t know; it’d be like Superman keeping a piece of kryptonite on the mantle over the fireplace. Merrick directed Max and Matt to hold Dom’s arms down/ Joe pivoted, kneeling on his head now so that Dom’s back was exposed. Dom’s heart slammed with terror and tremors raced through his body.
“Is this what you want, Dominick?” Merrick asked. “To die? To truly die?”
Dom swallowed hard. No, it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to live, to love, to have a family one day. He wanted a happy, normal life, the life TV and social media had been promising him since he was a little boy.
But all of that went out the window the night he died in his little apartment. There was no life anymore, just a grotesque parody of life. What was there for him other than death? Clinging desperately onto life for decades like Merrick? Stuffing himself full of embalming fluid and moth balls? Grinding for one more minute just so he could sit hooked up to a machine?
Dom spoke.
“What?” Merrick asked, not having heard.
Dom licked his lips. “Just fucking do it.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Expectation hung in the air. Finally, breaking the tension, Merrick nodded to Jessie. Kneeling down, she brought the stake up, and Dom closed his eyes.
This was it.
He braced himself for death.
Jessie brought the stake down just as a shot rang out, deafening in the small space. Her head whipped back, embalming fluid, skull fragments, and gray, sickly pieces of brain showering from the back of her head. She flopped back and landed on the floor with a sickening thud.
A woman cop, her black uniform in stark contrast to the burning white light, stood in the doorway to the hall, her gun drawn. Everyone did, indeed, freeze, more out of surprise than respect for authority. They all looked at her, their dead mouths agape, resembling children who’d been caught doing something wrong.
“Everyone on the ground!” she barked.
No one knew what to do. They hadn’t expected to be raided by the police so had not prepared. She jerked her gun and everyone instinctively flinched. “On the ground!” she repeated. To Max: “You too, bone boy.”
The first one to react was Joe. He sprang at her like a big, undead frog. She brought the gun around and fired, but he was already crashing into her. The shot went wild and struck the IV bag next to Merrick; he ducked and let out a sound of fear. The others rushed her, and Dom got quickly to his feet. Jessie lay on the floor, her mouth open in a silent scream and her bony fingers frantically examining the ragged hole in the center of her forehead. For a moment, he was frozen; everything was happening too fast. Then, when Merrick saw him and cried, “Stop him!, he came alive. Jessie tried to grab at his leg, but he kicked her hand away and stomped on it like it was a giant spider. On the other side of the room, Matt, Joe, and Max had forced the cop to the ground. Perhaps excited by all the action, perhaps just hungry, they began to tear her apart. She howled in pain, and the last thing Dom saw before he fled was her open, blood-filled mouth. Her eyes were filled with pain…with terror.
After that, Dom ran.
***
When the interloper was dead, Merrick directed Joe and Matt to dispose of the body. “Get rid of it,” he said wearily and rubbed his temples, “make sure it isn’t found.”
They rolled her into a carpet from the office, and the way her feet stuck out may have been comical under other circumstances.
Goddamn it, this was bad. Merrick’s entire philosophy rested on avoiding detection. He had done well in that regard. Whereas other vampires had attacked their villages and gotten themselves dug from the ground and staked, he had made it four decades. He never shat where he ate, and there is no bigger turd than killing a cop. They might dawdle on all the boys who’d gone missing - taken because their blood was stronger and more robust than the blood of girls - but they would not take a cop dying lightly at all.
Merrick owned various businesses around the country. He and the others would simply move on. Tomorrow night, they would disappear into the night. They had done it before and they would likely do it again. Once things were settled at their new base of operations, he would have Joe killed for all the trouble he’d caused.
And Dom?
Let him go.
The little rat wouldn’t last a month on his own.
“Jessie?”
Jessie sat against the wall, gazing into space.
“Jessi…start packing. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
She didn’t move, didn’t seem to hear. The shot had all but lobotomized her.
Damn it.
Joe backed the van up to the back door of Club Vlad, and then helped Matt carry the carpet-rolled body down the stairs. They loaded it in and closed the back doors. Together, they drove around looking for a place to dump it. Merrick wanted it to go unfound, but Joe doubted there was anywhere isolated enough in the city. On a whim, he drove to Washington Park, a vast expanse of green trees and shadows. There was a large pond there. It seemed the best option. They were leaving tomorrow anyway, so did it really matter?
Joe backed the van to a railing overlooking the dark water and put it in park. He and Matt got out, fetched the body, and carried it to the railing. They lifted and heaved it over. It splashed. Thus, they rid themselves of Vanessa Rodregiez.
***
Bruce sat anxiously up in his easy chair and waited for his cell to ring.
Parked in front of the TV by warm lamplight, a beer wedged between his legs, he’d been watching the 11’o’clock news when the phone rang. He picked it up and it was Vanessa. “Hey,” she said, “I think I found our body?”
“Which one?” Bruce asked and took a drink. “We have a lot of those these days.”
“Dominick Mason.”
Bruce sat forward in his chair. “Dead Dom? Where?”
“He just came out of a funeral home, ironically enough.”
“That sounds about right,” Bruce said. “Where are you now?”
“I’m following him east on Central.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Bruce asked.
“I think so, but I’m not sure. I’ll call you back when I’m done.”
Bruce sat the phone aside and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
At some point, he fell asleep sitting up, his head lulled to one side and his mouth open. He snorted himself awake, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. He checked his phone and was perturbed to see that it was past 2am.
Vanessa hadn’t called.
He dialed her number and let the phone ring until it went to voicemail. Sighing, he ended the call, then waited a few minutes and called again.
Still no answer.
It was possible she had forgotten. Maybe the guy turned out to not be Dead Dom after all. She followed some random guy around, realized it, and that was that. Hell, she was probably too embarrassed to call and tell him about it.
Something told him that wasn’t right, however.
There was something else going on here.
Something…darker.
Just before 3am, his phone rang. He snatched it off the end table next to the chair and answered it. It was Burt, the night sargent. “Rodriguez is missing,” he said simply.
Bruce’s heart sank. “Missing?”
“Yeah, she hasn’t checked in for hours and she isn’t answering calls.”
“I’m on my way,”
Bruce tore through the house, pulling on his uniform, socks, and shoes in less time than it took a Daytona 500 pit crew to service a car. In ten minutes he was speeding down 787, the Albany skyline rising in the distance. As he hurried to the station, he thought back to his last conversation with Vanessa. She’d found Dom the Dead Man, the “corpse” who’d scared Ed Harris out of a 20 year career. Despite all their talk about vampires and the living dead, Bruce didn’t believe it, not really. Even so, he was sure that Dominick Mason had done something to Vanessa.
He checked in at the station before doing anything else. They had triangulated Vanessa’s last known location via cell towers. Cops were already out searching the streets for her. Bruce went out as well, intending to start from her last known position and work his way east on Central. The closest funeral home was Tebbutt and Frederick on Central. There was also Lasak & Gigliotti on North Allen Street. Bruce didn’t know which one Vanessa had seen Dom come out of, so he checked both.
Both were deserted at this hour.
Undeterred, Bruce drove up and down Central Ave. At one point, he noticed a shape in an alleyway that looked human. He hit the brakes, jumped out, and pointed his gun at it. “Freeze!”
An old wino stepped out of the darkness. “Alright, you got me,” he said, hands up. “I started COVID. It was an accident, I swear.”
Bruce sighed and put his gun away.
For two more hours, Bruce searched the streets of Albany for Vanessa. At 4am, he spotted a squad car abandoned in the rear parking lot of an abandoned gas station on lower Lark Street. He called it in and the desk sergeant confirmed that it was the one Vanessa had signed out that night.
Still there was no sign of Vanessa herself.
Just after dawn, as the city came alive and CDTA buses began lumbering up and down the streets, Bruce got a call on his cell. “A jogger found a body in Washington Park.”
Bruce was in his personal car. He had no bubble light, no siren. Even so, he sped through the streets like he did, blowing through red lights and stop signs with little care to himself or anyone else. When he got to Washington Park, he found an army cops by the pond, the scene cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. He slammed on the brakes, threw open the door, and jumped out without even turning off the engine.
The body was rolled up in a carpet and lying on the bank. Two beat cops unrolled it at Bruce’s direction. “We should wait for -” one of them started, but Bruce cut him off.
“Do it.”
They compiled, and at the carpet’s center, like a rotten cream filling, was the body of Vanessa Rodregiuez. Her head was tilted to one side, her eyes wide and staring. Her throat had been mangled and ripped away, her head nearly severed. Even in the black and red mess, Bruce could make out the teeth marks and puncture wounds. They may have looked like something else to anyone else who saw them, but he knew, in that moment, what they were dealing with.
A sharp pang of horror sliced through him, and his knees went weak.
“Jesus Christ,” one of the beat cops drew.
Bruce fell to, rather than knelt on, one knee. He bent over the body, a mixture of horror and grief welling his throat. He wanted to reach out, to comfort her in death, but he stayed his hand. Instead, he visually examined the body. She had bruises on her face, defensive wounds on her hands, and her gun was gone. Whoever had attacked her, she put up a fight.
Something glinted on her pants.
“What’s that?” one of the cops asked.
“I dunno,” the other replied, “but it’s all over the carpet.”
Indeed, there were glinty little specks all over it, winking like mocking eyes. Nice work, eh? We really fucked her up, didn’t we? Wink wink.
“It looks like…”
The other cop cut him off. “Glitter.”
Bruce flashed back to his visit to Club Vlad the other day.
There had been glitter everywhere.
Bruce stood up.
He had work to do.
***
Instead of going back to the station to start his shift, Bruce went to Lowes. There, he bought a mallet, a gas can, and a dozen sticks of wood. An employee in a blue vest used a machine to sharpen them to a wicked point and he took his purchases to the car. Next, he drove over to the Mobil station and filled the gas can. He was so hellbent on revenge that he sprang for premium, the good stuff. No expense shall be spared.
His final stop was at a Catholic church. He filled a canteen with holy water from the marble font by the door, then swiped a crucifix from the wall. He stopped by the station, went inside, and grabbed a black duffle bag with POLICE written across the front in yellow. He opened the gun cabinet in his office, took out a shotgun, and loaded it with shells. He grabbed a handful from the box and stuffed them into his pocket.
He was just finishing up when Bertha came in. “There you are,” she spat, “I’ve waited long enough for you to do something. I demand -”
Bruce shoved the duffle bag into her arms. “Make yourself useful.”
“What?” she demanded.
“We’re going to get your granddaughter,” Bruice lied. Kind of.
Bertha’s demeanor changed. “Good. It’s about time. I was starting to think you were a complete incompetent.”
Bruce didn’t answer. Outside, he plucked the bag out of Bertha’s hands and tossed it into the backseat. He slipped behind the wheel and Bertha sat in the passenger seat. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Club Vlad,” Bruce said and started the engine.
“I want all of them arrested.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bruce said.
She barked orders the entire way there. Bruce was so deep in his thoughts that he barely heard her. The image of Vanessa’s ruined throat and terror-twisted face haunted him, and he felt a lump forming in his throat. Hot tears filled his eyes but he blinked them back and forced himself to calm down.
I’ll cry when I’m done killing, he thought.
A few minutes later, he pulled to the curb in front of Club Vlad. It was a hot and sunny day and the place seemed even more ominous because of it. The windows were black, the front cast in perpetual shadows by the old marquee from when it used to be a theater. The place was surely closed, but Bruce could hear music still playing from inside, some techno dance bullshit. “Alright,” he said, “let’s go.”
Getting out, he slung the dufflebag over his shoulder and carried the shotgun, the canteen full of holy water clasped to his belt. Bertha carried the gas can, looking confused. “Why do we need this?” she asked.
“We’re burning the place down.”
Bertha blinked in surprise…then an evil grin carved across her face. “That’ll show the bastards.”
Unlike last time, the door was locked. Bruce used the butt of the shotgun to break the glass, then reached inside and unlocked the door, being careful not to cut himself. This was the point of no return. What he had in mind would probably get him kicked off the force or even thrown in jail - and we all know how tough jail can be for a former barnaclehead. The memory of Vanessa’s contorted face pushed him on, however.
He’d suffer any consequences he needed to just so long as he got the sons of bitches who did this to her.
Inside, the club was cool and cave-like. Strobe lights flashed, on and off, black and white, dazzling Bruce’s eyes. The bartender was at his station, cleaning up from the night before. When he saw Bruce and Bertha come in, he started. Bruce pointed the shotgun at him. “Don’t fucking move,” he commanded.
The bartender hesitated, then reached for something under the bar.
The shotgun kicked in Bruce’s hands, and the bartender flew back, turning as he crashed into the barback. Bottles, glasses, and mugs crashed to the floor along with the bartender. Bruce racked the gun, and the shell flew out. He moved low and fast now, expecting to be swarmed by vampires, living thugs who worked for vampires, or vampire thugs who worked for themselves.
Though the shot had been like thunder, no one came.
Bruce had no idea where to go, but he imagined that vampires were naturally gravitate to the lowest part of the building. Was there a basement? Shit, he should have looked up the building plans at city hall. Damn, this is what happens when you go off half-cocked. He searched around a bit, opening doors and sweeping the rooms beyond with the shotgun. He found no basement, only stairs leading up. “Stay close,” he said to Bertha.
In the lead, Bruce crept up the stairs, the flashlight on the shotgun providing a cone of clean, white light. At the top of the stairs, he went right, and came to an office and a store room. Backtracking, and bumping into a bungling Bertha, he went into the next room. It was large and open with a vaulted ceiling, almost like a ballroom. Here the same strobe lights throbbed on and off, making him dizzy. Was this to dazzle prospective vampire hunters?
Either way, this was the place. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, some curled up on their sides and others in the classic vampire pose: Flat on their backs with their hands laced over their chests. In the center, like the sun to the planets, Merrick Garvis lay slumped back in his wheelchair, his neck exposed for any potential assassin to come and cut. Not that it would kill him. At least Bruce didn’t think it would.
“They’re all dead,” Bertha whispered. She looked around and gasped. “There’s Jessie.”
Jessie lay on her back, her hands folded on her chest. She had a ragged bullet hole in the center of her forehead. “Oh, God,” Bertha wavered, “someone shot her.”
He hoped it was Vanessa. And he hoped it fucking hurt.
Looking around, Bruce couldn’t find Dominick Mason. Was he the one who killed Vanessa? Was it a group effort? He wanted the little son of a bitch bad, but it looked like he’d have to go on without him. They didn’t have much time.
Unshouldering the duffle bag, he knelt down and rummaged around. “Start splashing that gas on the bodies,” he said.
“But -”
“Just do it,” he snapped.
There must have been a harder edge in his voice than normal, because Bertha jumped and did as she was told. She upended the can and began to splash gasoline onto the sleeping forms, the smell of it acrid and strong.
Taking out a stake and the mallet, Bruce went over to Merrick and knelt down. He gripped the stake in one hand and placed it firmly against Merrick’s chest. He brought the mallet up and hesitated, the gravity of what he was doing finally reaching him. What if he was wrong? What if -
Merrick’s head whipped up and their eyes locked.
Too late.
Bruce brought the mallet down as hard as he could. The stake drove deep into Merrick’s heart, and the vampire let out a howling screech that rang through the chamber like the cry of a banshee. His bony fingers clawed at the stake and his head whipped from side to side, his back arching and his robe coming open. In the quick strobe pattern, Bruce was shocked to see that his body was little more than a wood frame, chicken wire, and cotton balls. His blacked heart was hidden behind a screen of mesh that the stake had easily torn through. It throbbed, seemingly in time with the strobe lights, and Merrick let out another wail.
Bertha screamed, and Bruce jumped to his feet.
The vampires, drawn by their master’s cries of distress, were rising to their feet. Two, four, six of them, pale and ethereal like ghosts in a gothic mansion. They came toward Merrick, and Bruice fell back a step. The old man had gone still and lay slumped to one side, his eyes open and his mouth slack, embalming fluid leaking from the corner of his lips. Jessie bent over him and touched his face. Though she moved like a zombie, with no human emotion, Bruce was crazily sure that it was a touch of tenderness and love. Merrick didn’t stir.
He was dead.
Jessie looked at him. Yellow liquid leaked from her eyes like tears. Instead of attacking him, she turned on her grandmother and slammed her against the wall. Bertha screamed and dropped the can. It landed on its side, its contents sloshing out onto the floor. A man that resembled the pictures Bruce had seen of Joe Rossi only deader rushed him, slamming into him and knocking the shotgun aside. It hit the floor and skidded away. Joe grabbed Bruce around the throat and squeezed. Still the lights flashed, off and on, off and on. The walls thrummed with the mechanized beat of dance music, pierced only by Bertha’s screams as Jessie ripped out her throat.
Joe leaned in, his fangs wicked and glowing in the light. Bruce clawed at the monster’s face, tearing away strips of dead flesh. Joe turned his head to the side, and Bruce kneed him in the groin. Even dead, getting kicked in the balls hurt like hell, apparently. Joe’s grip loosened and Bruce was able to shove him off. Bruce unclasped the canteen and frantically screwed the cap off as Joe recovered. Joe sprang at him again, and Bruce splashed him in the face.
A sound like sizzling meat filled the air, and Joe screamed at the top of his lungs. He pressed his hands to his face and danced around the room, his skin liquifying and oozing between his fingers. The others were coming now, led by a terrible skeletal thing. Bruce scooped the shotgun off the floor, brought it around, and fired. The blast hit the thing dead center, tearing it literally in half. The top half flew back, an all too human look of surprise on its face, and the bottom half fell over with a wet thud. Another vampire came at, and Bruce slammed it across the face with the butt of the gun. He heard its jaw crack, saw teeth flying.
Bertha lay dead on the floor, Jessie bent over her. The smell of Bertha’s blood attracted the others, who seemed to forget about Bruce, Merrick, and everything else. Joe was on his knees, wailing in pain, and the skeletal thing was pulling itself toward Bertha. A feeding frenzy broke out as vampires fought to get a piece of her the way piglets might fight over their mother’s teat. Bruce watched in a mixture of horror and fascination, but recovered himself. He grabbed the gas can from the floor and dumped the rest of its contents on Merrick’s body, the feeding vampires’ backs, and the floor, using the last of it to make a little trail to the door. He tossed the can aside, bent down, and stuck a match.
A huge, fiery whump filled the room, and fire streaked along the trail. The vampires all went up in a huge ball of flames, and fire shot up Merrick’s body, catching his robe, his hair, and the wooden frame that had kept him semi upright for God knows how long. Letting out inhuman screams, the vampires broke from Bertha’s corpse. One stumbled around, bounced off the wall, and fell; another toddled toward Bruce before falling to its knees. The half skeleton kept drinking from Bertha’s neck even as it burned.
The heat was enormous, baking. Bruce backed away, and the last thing he saw before smoke obscured his vision was Merrick Garvis.
He was literally melting.
***
Dominick Mason tried to go home, but he no longer had a home. All of his worldly possessions sat on the sidewalk in front of his building, discarded coldly as easily. His key didn’t work in his door and there was a FOR RENT sign on it. Why would it be any other way? He was dead. Sooner or later, everyone forgets you when you’re dead, and all the things you held so dear wind up in the trash. It was a hard pill to swallow, but most people aren’t around to see it after they die.
He was.
From his building, he walked east toward Washington Park. In the distance, thick, black smoke billowed into the air, and sirens rose. He barely noticed and wouldn’t have cared even if he did. No more rubbernecking for him. That was for the living.
The pain that had plagued him so the previous day came back, only less this time. Maybe he was imagining it, but it was getting harder to think. Not that he cared, really. What was there to think about anyway? How he had no one to mourn or miss him? How he died and not one single person, except for maybe his mother, cared, or even noticed? How he had done nothing with his life? Even to the women he’d slept with, what was he? Just another dating app hookup. They probably didn’t even remember his name.
Merrick had been right about one thing. Death was easy. It was life that was hard…life that hurt.
With that in mind, Dominick made his way to Washington Park. It was a vast and deep place with many small caves and thickets. Kids played on the playground, their cries of laughter scenting the still air. It had grown cloudy and began to rain. Still, smoke poured into the sky in the direction of Club Vlad. Dom didn’t wish ill on Merrick and the others, didn’t hope it was them burning. He didn’t care anymore. Not about them, not about anyone. For better or worse (and he would argue it was worse), his life was over. His time came days ago, he just missed the boat.
Picking out an isolated little area, Dom sat against a tree with his legs splayed out in front of him. He titled his head back and closed his eyes. Yes, thinking was hard now. His mind felt sluggish, cold. He was thirsty…so, so thirsty, but he ignored it.
Slowly, the bugs found him. Flies buzzed around him and laid their eggs in his skin. Beetles scuttled over him, followed by worms.
Next, it was the birds. They ate out his eyes and nibbled at his blue, bloated skin.
The animals came last.
Their appetites were bigger.
And they left little remaining of poor, outcast Dominick Mason.
***
That night, Bruce sat alone in his little trailer, a bottle of whiskey wedged between his legs and unshed tears in his eyes. He stared at his reflection in the darkened TV set and took long swallows from the bottle. He planned to drink until he forgot or passed out, whichever came first. He tried to not think about Vanessa, but in his addled state, he couldn’t control himself, and began to cry. When that storm passed, like the others before it, he chugged from the bottle.
As distant church bells clanged the hour - midnight - a feeble knock came at the door. Bruce took another drink and it came again. Getting up, he stumbled, nearly fell, and gripped the bottle tightly. He didn’t want to lose one precious drop.
Again, the knock.
“I’m coming,” Bruce slurred. He staggered to the door and fought with the lock. He was dizzy and seeing double.
When he got it, he opened the door.
The bottle dropped from his hand and clanked onto the floor.
Vanessa, clad in a puke green hospital gown, stood on the step, her hands pressed to her chest and a look of anguish on her milk white face. Her head tilted to one side, the wounds on her neck cleaned but open, gaping. Her dark eyes shone with tears. “I’m dead,” she said.
Breaking down in tears, she collapsed against him and they sank to the floor. She was cold and smelled. Bruce wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest anyway. “Shhh, it’s alright,” he said drunkenly. “Hey, it’s alright.
“I’m dead,” she repeated, and her voice broke. “I don’t want to die.”
Bruce held her close, trying to warm her icy skin. He didn’t know what to say, so he cried with her.
“You’re safe now,” he said, “it’s going to be okay.”
“I want blood,” she said and sobbed harder, “I want to hurt people.”
“Shhh,” Bruce said again. “It’s okay.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a utility knife. He flicked the blade across his wrist and searing pain shot up his arm. “Here,” he said and offered her his blood, “drink this.”
He did this without care and without thought. She needed him, and one barnaclehead always backs up another.
Vanessa hesitated, looking from his face to the oozing blood, unsure.
“Go ahead,” he told her.
Vanessa brought his wrist to her mouth.
And began to drink.

First/Previous
"Watch out!" Jack yelled out to the crowd as the now-glowing overhead turrets, long dormant and forgotten, suddenly whirred to life with a mechanical hum, tracking his movements as he ran, shoving past a group of unsuspecting Xarak to the side as he moved to dodge the torrent of rapid fire aimed right at him, kicking up smoke as the superheated plasma churned the ground underneath him, before the sound of gunfire abruptly stopped.
"Fucking overheating shittubes!" the voice on the speakers cursed. "The Outsider is by the two broken pillars!"
"I see him!" a voice replied from out of the crowd as Jack got his bearings, spotting a group of three uniformed soldiers rushing towards him. As the leader moved to stab him with a nasty-looking barbed shortspear, Jack quickly juked the direction he intended to dodge, dipping to the right as he smashed the avian in the stomach with a vicious kick, shuffling back as he caught the blade of the second soldier with his bracer before throwing them off balance, lashing back at the first with his elbow as he did.
He moved to check the third that was moving to take a swing at him with a bat, but before Jack could do so the soldier was suddenly yanked back as a long, coiled leather whip snapped around them. Following along, Jack spotted an older grey-skinned ganger in black leathers with a coarse, black beard to match his scraggly hair sat down with his back to a wall, casually drinking a beer as he observed the chaos with a mischievous smirk.
As the soldier pulled back his bat to strike the interloper, the ganger grinned and looked down where his legs were already spread wide, revealing a strange metal crotch plate. Suddenly making a jerking motion with one of his legs, the plate flipped up to reveal the barrel of a huge codpiece gun that flipped up to point directly at the soldier, before it fired once, catching the solder completely by surprise as the top of their body was utterly obliterated by a bolt of powerful plasma energy. Smirking, the ganger gave Jack a wink, chugging down the rest of his drink, before charging into the brawl.
Hearing an almighty roar, Jack turned around only to be knocked back yet again as a broken, avian body was roughly lobbed at him, staggering him backwards as the Redeemer turned to the last of the bird-like gangsters, picking him up with immense strength and smashing them to the ground before advancing towards the human more cautiously this time, shoving drunken brawlers out of the way.
“I have long waited for this moment, Outsider. With your death, my King shall grant you redemption!” The Redeemer snarled. Now having a good look at him, Jack couldn’t see any visible weapons on him, which was strange. Last time, he’d brought a gunship and was taking potshots at him with some kind of high-powered rifle. Then again, considering what happened last time, maybe The Redeemer wanted the satisfaction of using his bare hands to beat him to death.
It wouldn’t be a terrible plan considering everything the Ogar had pulled off so far…
While sports on Earth were often separated by gender, despite some resistance from the more liberal-minded, due to biological differences between men and women, combat sports were a whole different game, with mixed martial arts organisations having very specific weight classes for fair competition between athletes, with two fighters of similar size and weight less likely to cause serious injury to each other.
But if you placed an experienced lightweight against even a novice heavyweight? That would introduce major problems for the smaller fighter, who would need to contend with the extra size, reach and power of their larger opponent. Not an impossible fight, but a tough one.
And Jack very much felt like a lightweight here.
Though of course, he had faced larger opponents before. Even an Ogar, though they had defeated the Laird with a cunning trap. However, he didn’t know how well matched he and The Redeemer were in a fair close-range fight outside of the opening moments of the ambush.
Still, he had little choice but to find out. He didn’t have an easy way to escape, and he didn’t know what the status of the others was. If he ran while they were still here then The Redeemer and the Regulators would simply go after them instead to get to him…
No. He couldn’t allow those thoughts to shake him. His friends knew what the hell they were doing, and they could handle themselves just fine. He had to worry about himself right now.
He couldn’t run, so he had to fight.
With a speed he didn’t expect from The Redeemer, they grabbed a nearby chair and lobbed it right at Jack in one smooth motion before following through with another charge.
‘Aegis!’ Jack yelled as he brought his forearm up, as his new and improved shield eagerly sprung up to take the hit from the chair, before a fist smacked into the side of his head as The Redeemer used the chair as a distraction to change his angle of attack.
Spinning with the blow, Jack fought in his mind to stay in the fight as his vision blurred, with the powerful strike threatening to knock him out then and there, before another fist caught him in the stomach, with his battleskin dispersing a hit that would have otherwise easily taken the air out of his lungs.
Retracting his shield, Jack ducked another punch that threatened to decapitate him as he skidded under the blow, parrying a backfist with his forearm that tingled painfully as he ate the blow, before clocking the Redeemer with a punch to the jaw, his gauntlet extending to cover his knuckles with a well-forged plate of metal to add their power to the strike, before the Redeemer threw out a punch that caught him on the shoulder, sending the deathworlder reeling back.
Jack grit his teeth as he fought through the pain, adrenaline rushing through him. He wasn’t out of the fight yet, but he knew he’d gotten the worst of that engagement.
The Redeemer clearly understood this as well, as the zealot strode towards the human with a confident, wicked grin.
But this time, Jack was ready.
‘Caltrops’ Jack whispered the command word, as his gauntlets gave him a good handful of them, subtly tossing them in front of him with an underhand throw, which had gone unnoticed by the Redeemer as they stared at the human with hatred.
Suddenly dashing forward to quickly close the remaining distance between them, the Redeemer roared as he charged Jack again, suddenly grunting in pain and stumbling as his full, heavy mass sent a sharp, painful spike straight through his armoured boot, causing him to lose focus as he looked down at his foot for just a moment to see what had happened.
A moment of distraction that Jack used to its fullest, as he quickly swung his axe down right at The Redeemer’s head.
However, the Ogar reacted with surprising dexterity as he used his forward momentum to avoid the full force of the axeblade, his metal helmet taking a glancing blow as he shoved Jack off balance, causing him to stumble. Quickly predicting what would come next, Jack dropped his axe on purpose as he prepared for a takedown attempt, dropping low and widening his stance as the Redeemer tackled him around the waist to try and bring him to the ground for a quick finish.
“There will be no salvation for you, human!” The Ogar growled through his pain as Jack was forced back by the Redeemer’s superior strength.
“Aww, did you miss me?” Jack taunted, holding on and walking back with the ever increasing momentum The Redeemer was building as he was pushed back along the dancefloor. “I saw your tantrum on the TV afterwards, didn’t know you were a bitch too!”
‘That’s it, asshole.’ Jack thought to himself as he felt his axe clip back onto his back. ‘Get mad. You showed me last time that you like to talk too much. I need to time this right…'
“Your blasphemy ends here Outsider! I shall smite you in the name of my King!” The insane zealot roared out in an enraged challenge.
With a roar the Redeemer pushed with much greater strength, forcing Jack to change his slow backpedalling into a full on sprint as he scrambled to stay on his feet, fighting to keep his grip above that of the Redeemer’s to maintain his control of the grapple for as long as he could as he was gradually being put off-balance, almost being lifted upwards.
‘I’ve got to hold on until the last possible moment…’ Jack thought to himself, as tables, chairs and people alike were battered to the side.
‘Now!’
As the wooden pillar supporting the balcony passed them in a blur, Jack shifted his weight to the left and relinquished the grapple, using the Redeemer’s momentum against him as he shoved the Redeemer off balance, as they smashed into the crumbling brick wall head first with an almighty crash.
As they stumbled back, yanking their head back out through the newly formed hole, Jack growled as grabbed the Redeemer around the top of one of his legs, yelling with effort as he was only just able to lift the Redeemer up and over him, slamming the Ogar down on the top of his head as hard as he could in a vicious suplex that gave a satisfying crack.
Growling with effort, the Redeemer pushed himself back into a crouch and looked up just in time as Jack’s foot smacked into the side of his head in a savage kick that cracked his metal helmet and dislodged one of his fangs. Roaring in rage and pain, the Redeemer got to his feet only to meet a flying knee that shattered his nose as his helmet cracked and dented with the heavy impacts.
“Redeem that you ugly cunt!” Jack growled, moving in for another strike as the Redeemer shoved him away, showing no signs of faltering as he slowly got to his feet, even after the devastating blows he just took. The Redeemer simply gave Jack a wicked grin of satisfaction, before it fell slightly upon seeing something to Jack’s side.
As Jack’s Ring of the Berserker vibrated again, he spun around to spot a large, lanky Vivren with several piercings in overt heavy armour grinning at him with malicious intent as she pointed a wand at him and cast a word of power.
Before he had any time to react, Jack’s entire body erupted in a wave of agony unlike anything he had ever felt before…
*****
“Fuck! Alora! Sephy? Chiyo? Dante?” Nika coughed as she got up from where the balcony had collapsed from under them.
Looking around, she could see even more patrons fighting around them, revelling in the chaos of the brawl, but she couldn’t spot any of her friends in the immediate aftermath, as thick dust plumed out from the wreckage below her.
‘At least the crew of the ship we’re meant to be travelling on are probably out by now.’ The Kizun thought to herself. ‘Can’t go back, the CorvMart crew will have moved on by now, so sticking to the original plan is probably the best move, unless we can steal a vehicle one of us knows how to pilot.’
Assessing the situation before her, Nika went for her bo staff, though made sure that her shotgun was well within easy reach. Though many of the people fighting around her looked rough, they weren’t attacking her or her friends, and until that changed they could make good allies of convenience, or for a smokescreen to give their enemies the slip if they had to run.
Though slaying as many of their attackers as they could would be preferable.
‘Best way to do that is link up with the others, we’re better as a unit.’ She reasoned, hearing an almighty crash. ‘Well, that’s probably Jack.’
Dodging a thrown bottle as a Squarri ganger missed their intended target - a pissed-off looking quadrupedal furry species that Nika didn’t recognise - before dodging a swing of a bat from a Xarak that saw her as an easy target. Quickly raising her staff she parried the backswing before cracking the other end of the staff across the reptilian’s face, knocking the rough-looking thug out as he collapsed to the ground.
Yet before Nika could think to move on from the conflict, she had to dodge out of the way using her tail as a large Balnath with some kind of cleaver-like sword took a swing at her. Recognising the sigil of the Regulator group Chiyo had told them to watch out for - a stern-looking demonic rune surrounded by a neon-red triangle - Nika parried the next sword swipe from the figure.
“Let me guesth, you want to get to the Outthider?” The Balnath sneered at the Kizun with a lisp so thick that in any other situation she’d have to stop herself from laughing. “I’m stho thorry, but we can’t let you have sthilly ideas like that!”
“Are you for fucking real?” Nika asked as she dodged to the side and put some space between them before quickly switching to her shotgun, letting loose a powerful blast that the Balnath was able to raise his shield up to block.
‘Skill like that? Probably the leader or an officer of some kind.’ The Kizun noted to herself. ‘No choice. I’ve got to kill him.’
“Yeah, I know that you’re finking! You fink my teef make me sound sthupid?” The Balnath growled, with a few experimental chomps. “Well these teef like to gnaw and gnasth on Kizun flesth!”
“Come and try it!” Nika snarled as she twirled her staff around her in a well-practised flourish, eagerly accepting the challenge.
The Balnath charged forward with lightning speed as it came at Nika with a series of feints, before swiping at her with a brutal overhand chop, using both hands. The Kizun was able to deftly parry with her staff, the kinetic modules battering her opponent’s grip to the side, though she felt the strength behind the blow and knew that the Balnath was stronger.
Still, she knew she could take him.
Ever since she was little she had roughhoused with her brothers and the local boys in fights around their ranch, and had learned the hard way from an early age that her gender and short build worked against her when facing her peers, so she had trained to be the strongest she could be, and learned to be quick and tactical to make the best use of that.
She had eventually kept up with the neighbourhood boys, using holds and precise strikes until her elders found out what she was doing when she was meant to be working on the ranch to help the family scrape by, and quickly put a stop to the shenanigans.
When she moved to the city, she only got better from there.
The tip of her staff thundered against the Balnath’s shield like the striking of a gong, forcing the larger being back as Nika could tell he was already tiring. Though she wanted to finish this fight quickly and get to her friends, she knew she couldn’t allow herself to give her opponent an opening, even as she sought to exploit an opening of her own. She had to be patient.
Her staff rattled against the shield again and again, as she felt her opponent’s defence get weaker and weaker, with the powerful force of her kinetic module focusing the strength of her strikes into a single point. Eventually something would break, his shield of his arm. Once his defences were finally down, she would go in swiftly for the kill.
Her opponent’s frustration won out as his shield shattered and fell to the floor, forcing him to attack Nika with a vicious two handed swipe. She blocked the strike handily, before the Balnath grabbed her staff, locking them in a clinch.
“Giff me sthome help over ‘ere!” The Balnath called out, as Nika reached for a knife, forcing the Balnath to adjust his stance as she stabbed blindly, glancing off armoured plates before finding purchase somewhere, causing her attacker to grunt with pain as he shoved her back, holding her up against a wall.
‘Shit.’ She cursed in her mind. ‘He’s stronger than me, but all I need is a moment to take him by surprise and I can break away and kill him!’
She held strong with her arms, holding the Balnath back as his jaws snapped shut barely an inch away from her neck. He tried again, and she pushed back harder, the jaws snapping shut around nothing, but much closer this time.
He tried again, bringing his vicious maw even closer still…
‘Gotcha!’ Nika thought to herself, as she jerked her head forward in a headbutt, catching the Balnath by surprise and giving the Kizun the space she needed to bring her knees up to her chin, before kicking out as hard as she could into the face of the Balnath, knocking him back with a roar of pain, before he leapt forward with a side swipe that Nika used her tail to quickly dodge, before in the same motion she brought the tip of her staff round and smacked the Balnath as hard as she could, right in the face, the powerful strike shattering its lower jaw completely.
“My fathce!” the attacker got out, clutching what little remained of his lower jaw, before looking up in the next moment as they stared down the barrel of Nika’s shotgun.
“Plea-” They got out, before their head was obliterated in an explosion of dark, blackish blood as their body clattered uselessly to the ground.
“Fuck you.” The Kizun retorted. Using her tail to quickly clip the sword to the magnets of her armour, Nika could see more Regulators in the crowd heading towards the DJ booth. Quickly checking her weapons, she headed right into the brawl!
*****
“You don’t belong here, girlie!” the thug cackled as their cybernetic arm crackled with electric discharge.
“Replacto!” Alora snarled as she swiped her wand out, blasting her attacker with a sudden flash of light that sent him stumbling back, clutching at his eyes.
“Anyone else?” Alora asked, trying her best to channel Nika’s cool, calm demeanour, crossed with Jack’s intimidating presence as the cluster of gangers and mercenaries all looked around at each other for just a moment, before deciding that the Eladrie wasn’t actually that intimidating, as one tried to rush her with a broken chair.
‘Oh by the Mother Tree! How do those two do it?’ Alora cursed in her mind as she summoned her spiritual weapon - a spear of light - that she quickly stabbed at the fish-like Osi, gutting them in the stomach which quickly made them drop the chair, while Alora wisely moved to the side to get out of the vicious melee happening all around her. Where were the others?
‘I have to make sure they’re all right.’ the Eladrie determinedly told herself as she began casting another, more complicated spell…
“Attention all idiots!” The voice over the speakers sneered out over the ever-changing music that the DJ didn’t seem to have any control over. “We discussed this. Though the Outsider is a priority, you target the spellcasters first if you can! Must I do everything myself?”
Thrumming with sudden power, the turrets above them finally opened fire, shooting almost indiscriminately at the crowd below, cutting several of the brawling patrons down before they even knew what hit them.
Chanting and waving her hands around as quickly as she dared, Alora maintained her concentration of her spell, completing it just in time as the turrets finally tracked her as she summoned a great holy aura of light to cover herself that would give her the protection she needed, the Armour of Faith deflecting the lights of the laser turrets harmlessly aside.
A loud bark sounded out, and knowing Dante’s warning for what it was, Alora spun around to see two Regulators, who were both Vulstas fighting through the brawl to get to her. Unlike Rena, these two were males, both carrying plasma shotguns but unable to get effective shots off through the crowd. Not that something like that stopped them from trying…
“Stevarin!” she yelled out, pointing her wand at one of the two who was about to open fire on a downed ganger, as with a flash of yellow light their movements slowed, quickly freezing stiff as a board as they failed to resist the Holding spell, their eyes widening in sheer terror as the gang-mates of their would-be-victim set upon them in a fury with fists and clubs, before a spell cast from the rafters sent all of them clattering to the ground clutching at their minds.
‘One of the enemy mages providing overwatch.’ Alora noted as she quickly looked up for any sign of them, but not seeing them. ‘Under a veil of invisibility no doubt.’
Feeling the dull impact of a shotgun blast dissipate harmlessly against her magical armour, Alora spun round to the other Regulator, cursing her moment of hesitation as the Vulsta drew a long knife with which to get in close with.
Remembering her fight with Izadora all those weeks ago, Alora waved her arms around quickly to summon a bubble of light to engulf her, before quickly following it up with an explosive flash that thundered all around her like a flashbang grenade, while leaving her unharmed.
As the light dissipated, she deftly avoided the blind lunge from the temporarily blinded Regulator, before jamming her spear into his stomach, using her reach advantage to dodge the desperate swipes he sent her way.
“Garrash!” Alora spoke a quick cantrip, using her affinity with life magic to channel poison through the top of her spear. Her already-weakened attacker quickly slumped to the ground as the debilitating effects took hold, but before Alora could pull her spear back, she was hit by a spell that came from above, disrupting her magic and causing her magical spear and armour to disappear.
‘Damn! It’s that mage above me!’ Alora cursed to herself as she quickly ran underneath one of the balconies, as the turrets chased after her with gunfire. ‘You want to hide in the shadows like a coward? I’ve got something to fix that!’
Quickly making sure there weren’t any immediate threats around, Alora quickly rummaged through her pockets for a wand of white crystal she had prepared about a year ago that still had a few charges. Casting quickly, she levelled it towards the ceiling and prayed to all the gods that she was aiming it at where the enemy mage was hiding,
“Glitasha!”
A spray of shining, sparkling particles of light shot out of her wand, puffing out to cover a good half of the ceiling, and as they began to fall to the floor and latch on to the people below, Alora spotted a huddled form by one of the rafters.
‘Got you!’ She thought with satisfaction.
“Ilthax! Get out of there!” The voice over the speakers warned, presumably the name of her target, but it was too late…
“Solaris!” Alora yelled, throwing her palms out in a thrust as a great javelin of light shot out of her palms. The enemy mage had barely moved before it impaled their centre of mass, sending what must have been a fireball spell way off target which blasted apart a huge, gaping hole in the back wall.
The invisible form of the glitterdust-covered mage slowly began to materialise as the blue-furred, ape-like Regulator clutched at their chest in pain, with wide eyes of disbelief at the spear of hard light that had gone right through their torso. As their flight spell dissipated, their lifeless body fell three stories from the rafters to slam down on the ground floor below.
“Nice one Alora!” the Eladrie heard the voice call from behind her as Nika came up next to her, the Kizun bleeding from a cut on her face. “Where are the others?”
“I don’t know. But we need to find them now!” Alora frantically told them as she took in the sheer state of chaos around them. Many broken bodies lay amongst the carnage, and though the Eladrie knew some would likely be still alive at the end of the night, she knew that many would not.
“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Nika agreed with a grim expression.
*****
First/Previous
Looks like Jack, Nika and Alora are holding on for now! But how long can they keep it up?
Don't forget to check out The Galactic High Info Sheet! If you want to remind yourself of certain characters and factions. One new chapter a week can seem like a while! Don't forget! You all have the ability to leave comments and notes to the entries, which I encourage you to do!
I am now on Royal Road! I would appreciate your support in getting myself off the ground there with your lovely comments, reviews and likes!
If you're impatient for the next chapter, why not check out my previous series?
As always I love to see the comments on what you guys think!
Don't forget to join the discussion with us on Discord, and consider checking me out on Youtube if you haven't already! Until next week, it's goodbye for now!

Heading for tennessee in September for a holiday from Ireland. We are renting a pickup and are driving from nashville to pigeon forge and back.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows of any "odd" do's and don'ts for driving over there? I've drove in a few European countries but never in the US.
The main reason I asked is I seen a video where a cop pulled a driver for doing 5mph UNDER the speed limit. I have no idea what state this was in, but here you have to keep below the speed limit and as a rule of thumb don't be 15mph under.
I've also heard about some law about "keeping up with the flow of traffic" (also not sure what state) so basically, of the rest of the traffic is going above the speed limit, you need to do the same.
Also we are planning on doing half the trip on interstate then switch to back roads, then do the opposite route on the way back so we can see a good portion of rural tennese, is there anything on the way you'd recommend seeing? Any BBQ spots to check out?

General background about my bf: he’s 30, does regular exercise, doesn’t smoke or drink, is overall healthy but has a very horrible addiction to Diet Coke. Everyday he buys the big bottle (1L) and drinks it all by himself the same day. So everyday he drinks one entire bottle, sometimes 2.
I’ve asked him lots of times in a good way when he plans on stopping because it really worries me the amount of Diet Coke he’s consuming a day. I’d be fine if it was one or two glasses from time to time, but a DAILY bottle?! That’s really gonna take a toll on his health even though he exercises.
He’s always dismissive about it and says “soon” every time I ask. Today I saw him with a new bottle at 9am and snapped. I asked him when is he going to leave it because I was worried about his health - he said he knows it’s bad and that he is addicted but to trust him that he’ll leave it at some point, just not now. Then added that he’d just do it secretly if it annoys me so much. That got me even angrier and I told him I didn’t understand why he judged alcoholic people/smokers so much if he’s doing the EXACT same thing but with a different substance. He then got angry because i called him an “alcoholic” and that it’s not the same by any means. I told him he was being childish.
AITA?
I’m a 26F, exercise almost daily, tries to live a healthy lifestyle. It hurts me to see him do this to himself.
FYI, just because a lot of you are attacking me for the comparison: it’s an analogy. I know the health risks are not the same. I was comparing how he was reacting. Acting defensive and saying he was basically going to hide the bottles.

I know there are several posts already concerning this topic, but I think our situation is a bit special so I'm posting a new question.
We're planning on changing all the windows in our apartment. Currently, we have pretty bad aluminium-frame single-glazing sliding windows. Our apartment (6th floor) has a quite large window surface, I'd estimate that at least 50% of our outer walls are windows. Our windows are also pretty big (about 85cm x 145 cm for the part that opens). The rest is brick wall. We hope to get a real upgrade in comfort with new windows.
Our situation is special because of where we live: In La Paz, Bolivia. We have quite low seasonal variations in temperature and higher diurnal variations. Temperatures at night tend to not drop below ~+5 degrees Celsius, so the delta temperature between inside and outside is not as large as elsewhere. We get a bit of sunshine during the morning, depending on the season. If the sun goes in, it does heat up the apartment notably and nicely (tropical sun).
There is something else that is special: Accessibility. Unfortunately, double or triple-glazing windows are not common at all here, so there are only a few - fairly artisanal - manufacturers. This means that we'll definitely not gonna get our hands on fancy "high quality" double or triple-glazing windows. There won't be filling with Argon gas or the sort, and I guess there won't be any special coatings either. So our choice is probably between not-so-great double-glazing and not-so-great triple-glazing windows.
Concerning noise: We live close to a street so there is definitely some traffic noise, but it's not horrible. Better soundproofing would be great, but it's probably not a real "make or break" point.
So considering our situation, would you think double or triple-glazing would be the better choice (triple is about ~15%-20% more expensive)? While I think better thermal and acoustic isolation would be great, I'm a bit worried about their large weight. Especially considering the fairly "artisanal" manufacturing process and the size of our windows, I'm a bit worried that they'll be more likely to fail than the double glazing windows, and we'd only get like 5 years of warranty. I have also read that triple glazing blocks a bit more sunlight, while ideally, we would like to keep the apartment as bright as possible.