Page 3 of The Glass Unicorn: Part 2
“I have news for them,” I said. “It’s going to hit the news one way or another. There are too many vacationers in here for it not to get out.”
I know,” she said. “I think they’re hoping to fix it within a day or so, but…honestly? It’s broken so badly that I can’t see that happening unless some miracle happens. And miracles seem in short supply, lately.”
Brynn, who was cooking a sausage on a skewer, stared at her. “You mean they may try to cover this up?”
Liesel nodded. “Unfortunately yes. I can’t predict, of course, but I’m acting on worst case scenario. And in here, we have to act on worst case scenario, as well. Our lives are in our own hands right now. We have to face the facts: we might not ever get rescued. We have to live life as though this is our only reality right now. Because, it just might be the world we spend the rest of our lives in.”
As we finished making breakfast and Reggie joined us, the chimney now clean, Liesel’s words echoed in my head. A nasty feeling in my gut told me she might just be right. And if that was the case, what the hell were we going to do?
CHAPTER 8: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
“So,we’re stuck here. What do we do? According to Liesel, this house is abandoned. We can either put down stakes here and tough it out, or we can move on. What do we think?” I asked.
I wasn’t sure what I thought we should do. On one hand, we were still close to the transporters. When they fixed the game, we could get out quickly. On the other hand…there were a number of other players out there, throughout Abarria. Maybe we could band together and create a village until we were able to leave.
“Do we haveany ideahow long the game will be down? How long we’re stuck here?” Thornhold asked.
Liesel shrugged. “As I said, there’s no way to tell. We’re here for…as long as we’re here.”
Brynn looked back at the house. “What would it take to spruce up the place?”
“Some elbow work. But there’s something we need to take into consideration,” Liesel said. “There will be roving groups of thugs. Not only Syms. Remember, when humans are pushed beyond their comfort level, sometimes they throw away ethics and go feral.”
“That’s true,” I said. “And, if theydomanage to fix the game, do we really want to leave without having experienced what we came for? I mean…I don’t really want to think that we’re here for the long term. The thought freaks me out, so if we are, I’d rather find out later. If we’re here in three weeks, we can always look for a place to settle down then.”
“That’s true,” Brynn said. “Or, if Liesel doesn’t mind, we can use this as a primary base and venture out from here, returning when we need a break.”
“What do you think, Liesel?” Reggie asked.
She thought for a moment. “I’m going to stay here and fix up the house. I’m an employee of the game, remember. I don’t have the freedom to chuck all my responsibilities and run off into the world of Abarria. At least, not yet. I have to wait until they’ve made a good faith effort to fix things. Trust me, I don’t want to stay here for the rest of my life, either. I have too many people I care about out in the real world. I can’t imagine never seeing them again.”
That set us all to thinking. Some of us had relationships, some of us didn’t. None of us were married, but I knew that Ray had a girlfriend, and Brynn had a boyfriend. Thank gods none of us had children. But Ray also had a dog. What was going to happen to our friends and the pets who relied on us? At least, thanks to Liesel, our families would know what was going on.
“I’m sorry,” Liesel said. “I’m just…” She shook her head. “You’re welcome to use this house as your primary base. I’ll be here and can keep an eye on it in the meanwhile.”
“Okay,” Ray said. “Let’s assume we’re going to make it out of here. It may not be today, or next week, or this month, but let’s assume the game makers will be able to fix it. So, let’s just continue with our adventure. That we can return here makes it so much easier. We’ll have to be cautious, but I want to explore this world that’s lived in my head for so long.”
We let his comments sit for a moment, then slowly, we all agreed.
I turned to Liesel. “Do you need any more help before we head out to the dungeon?”
She nodded. “If you could spare half a day to help me move a few of the bigger pieces of furniture around, I’d truly appreciate it.”
So, we spent the next few hours lugging furniture around the house, cleaning, and bringing stacks of wood to the wood bin right outside the door.
Finally, she stood back, eying the house. “I can take it from here. I’m glad you’ll be coming back. I may work here, but I’m scared, too.”
“How long will the watches last us?” Thornhold asked.
“The battery life lasts for a few years, so they should be able to keep contact with us—at least a one-way contact,” she said.
Everyone stopped at that and looked at one another. One more reminder that this was way too real. Finally, Liesel smiled. “The fire at my old house should be out. Let’s go raid the pantry to see what’s still edible.”
Taking a small hand-drawn cart with us, we returned to the burnt out shell of a house. We began rummaging through, and managed to find more than we expected—blankets and clothes, food and even some books.
“Fill your packs before you head for the dungeon,” she said.
“Are you sure? We don’t want to leave you high and dry,” I said.
