Creation: A Scifi-LitRPG Worldbuilding Story

Alexander rolled out of bed and looked in the mirror.

"What a cliché you are," He said while looking at his reflection. Who rolled out of bed and immediately looked at themself in the mirror? Was he a protagonist in some anime? Should he shave his head and go out punching things? Even better, he could grow it out, slick it forward with some strange goop, and then assume that every girl who looked at him was interested. That was the life! But no, he didn't think he was the protagonist in this story. Not even with the Champion abilities sitting quietly in his back pocket.

He snorted at himself in self-mockery.

Looking back at his bed, it could be called almost anything but. A stack of boxes stuffed with something moderately soft was covered in a threadbare blanket. He wasn't sure what was in those boxes, and at this point, he was a little scared to find out. And while he'd like to complain about the moderately clean stuffed tiger serving as a pillow, it was still better than he'd had only a month or so ago.

"Lex, you up!" A cheery voice yelled out from beyond the curtain over his door. The door had disappeared soon after the apocalypse had started, and how and where it went was another mystery in his mind. Either way, the Last Refuge wasn't such a terrible place to be in a world gone to hell.

"Lleexxx!" an incessant voice called a second time.

"I'm up! I'm up!" He called out in return, pushing past the curtain to see Maria trying to look in. He looked back at the entryway to his current living situation and recognized that it was a little angled.

"Were you trying to sneak a peak or something?" He couldn't help asking.

"No! Never!" she replied quickly—a little too quickly, in his mind. He waved a hand, showing he wasn't bothered. "It's fine. Anyways, what's up?"

Smiling at his blase attitude, she hopped in place, striking a pose with one foot slightly forward and a fist raised in the air at an angle, "It's time for your patrol, soldier!"

Lex nodded, not taking on Marias cheery tone with his sudden quick demeanor, "I understand. I'll head out right away."

Maria deflated, "Don't you want to know where you're going, or what to look out for?"

He shrugged, "Why would I? It's always the same. Keep the shadows away, find survivors, find food and water, find toilet rolls. All the essentials, I get it."

She further deflated, "You're no fun."

"I'm not trying to be. It's the end of the world as we know it, Maria. Do your part and try to survive."

The stalwart girl shook her head, braced her shoulders, and looked forward. "But that's not enough."

He'd already started walking, so she had to skip her feet to catch up. He looked at her from the side, not slowing his stride, "What's not enough?"

"Surviving. There's gotta be more Lex, or you won't be in a good place when the bad things come."

"I'm not so certain the bad things won't always come, Maria. What's there to look forward to? My family is gone, my friends, just about everything and everyone I ever cared about."

"Everyone?" She said, stopping in place.

He noticed and turned with a sardonic smile on his face, "Okay, almost everyone."

Seeing her smile was like watching the dawn break. It was a rare moment in a too-dark world. Giving her a rare smile back, he trudged toward the desk and the Sergeant behind it.

"Hello, Alexander," The big-bellied man said with no humor, "Here to grab your weapon, I see."

Trying not to be annoyed at Torn's refusal to use his chosen name, he gave the man a light glare, "Why else would I come to the armory, Torn? Did you think I was visiting to see your great paunch? Perhaps we can dive into the mysteries of what a jelly doughnut used to taste like if I had my eyes closed and a finger in my ass?"

The man scratched his chin briefly, seeming to ponder the ideas within, before breaking out in a great laugh. "That was a good one, Alexander. I see you have been working on our little game."

Alex gave a weak smile, "It's something to do in these times, man."

Torn nodded his head, "Too right, sir. Now you, bastard that you are, and I mean that in every sense, may fill out this form at your leisure."

Lex boiled over as the piece of paper slid in front of him, "It's a fucking club, man; why do you guys make me fill out forms? In fact, why do I have to do it at all? It's not a gun, it's a giant piece of fucking wood you guys whittled down so I could go all caveman."

A darkness took over Torn's face that was missing during their insults. He would allow for a lot of ribbing, gentle or not, but he wouldn't allow someone to insult due process, "It is the way of England, sir, to follow the guidelines set by our betters. Gladstone himself said that due process is not merely a legal doctrine."

"And Cromwell disagreed with him most strenuously, sir, if you're trying to turn the pages of history," Alexander replied, mentally pulling his First-class degree in British history out and shining it for the world to see.

Alexander still filled out the form, as Torn wasn't a bad man and simply liked his rules. Lifting the huge piece of wood up, he shouldered it, carefully not to knock down anything on the walls, and walked out with a slight hunch to keep from hitting the ceiling.

Maria did as she always did when she watched him perform something superhuman....she laughed at him.

"Every time I see that huge stick, you look more and more Neanderthal."

Lex gave her a quick glare, heading for the Eastern gate. She stopped when they were getting close, waiting for him to react, but he wasn't in the mood for frivolity right now. There were some creatures out there, and they needed to die.

Right, now.

He exited from the gate, waving at the guardian for the day, and broke into a bounding sprint as the sun slowly shifted out of view in the sky. Each step took him dozens of feet, and he limbered up his shoulders in between each placement, attempting to get to a decent location before losing the last of the light.

An hour later, Lex caught his breath after moving beyond Last Refuge's bounds. Powerful though he might be, it was hard to run like that with a huge weight on his shoulders for more than an hour. Even he had his limits.

Sitting on the ground, he brought out the trusty lighter his father had given him long ago. On the front was the image of England, while the back held an engraving of Big Ben. Picking up a few dead leaves, which were far too many for this time of year, he grouped them up and smothered them liberally in the lighter's flame.

A moment later, his conflagration was crackling merrily in front of him. Lex nodded, then stretched a little more. The hop-skipping way he had to run nowadays was good for lumbering up his legs, but he needed his arms right now.

When leaving their little town, most patrols spent much of their time in hiding. Moving during the day was helpful for keeping the shadowy creatures at bay, but some were able to walk right into the sunlight with no negative effects. When those times came up, the Refuge stated the best course of action was to run away, although your chances of survival were slim to none. Still, it was a brave man or woman who could step out into the apocalypse to offer humanity a helping hand.

Lex was not like them.

He'd discovered that killing as many of the Shadows as he could each night gave the area around them a breather. He didn't know if it was the travel time from where everything had started or if they were scared of coming to an area where their brethren had died. Either way, his little sojourns out here kept the Refuge safe, whether they knew it or not.

A shadow appeared on his periphery no more than ten minutes after lighting the leaves on fire. Grabbing hold of his cudgel, as that was the true word for his large block of wood, Lex tried to appear relaxed, as if the creature were sneaking up on him.

As it crossed toward him, moving ever closer, Lex flexed his abdominal muscles, twisting while simultaneously swinging the heavy piece of wood as hard as he could. A thin coating of something came out of his chest, wrapping around the cudgel as he swung the large weapon around. At impact, a loud slapping sound rang out, and the shadow broke into pieces before fading away entirely.

"One down, thousands to go." He said to himself, sitting back down to wait for the next would-be predator.

It was going to be a long night.