Successor of Kukulkan

TJ took a maybe unhealthy amount of enjoyment in the genuine confusion that accompanied every kindness he did for Sam and Mimi. He realized he had to do that instead of thinking more deeply about it, because if he did, he’d just get more pissed than he already was. So, he giggled like a naughty schoolboy when Mimi’s eyes flicked between him and the syrup bottle when he’d insisted she “needed at least twice as much syrup than that!” or when Sam had eaten only one and made to stand up to clear his plate and TJ’d tossed another three on the teen’s scraped-clean utensils.

“If you don’t eat that, it’ll go to waste. So eat.”

When both kids seemed genuinely well-fed, TJ smiled and pushed himself back from the table. The stark change in life now, outside of the Tutorial compared to within it, was startling. There was no timeline, and no need to go kill monsters. That there were only 30 minutes until the System let them know exactly what was coming next was beside the point. TJ hadn’t had the opportunity to just relax and enjoy a meal without anything breathing down his neck or threatening his life in a couple weeks. Now, he was taking that time and it was wonderful.

“So, do you two have plans moving forward?”

“Yeah.” Sam replied. Too quickly, though.

“Really?” TJ asked as he collected the plates. Putting them in the sink, he sighed. No running water to clean the cutlery and so on. Yeah, he’d really need the water from Roger and Susan’s pool. Even as he thought that, TJ didn’t let his gaze fall away from the blustering teenager.

“Yeah.” Sam didn’t offer anything else. TJ pursed his lips before he answered.

“Ok. Here’s what I’ll offer. If you think it’s a worse deal than what you’ve already got planned, then feel free to stick with what you’ve thought of already. Sound good?”

Mimi looked at her older brother. She was obviously happy to do that, but she was also obviously her older brother’s follower more than an equal leader. Sam met his sister’s eyes and shrugged.

“If it’s better, ok. And we can talk about it where you’re not listening.”

“Of course.” TJ nodded. “Two options. One is sticking around here. I have beds for you two, I’ve got enough food to make sure you’re well fed, and I can guarantee that we’ll have more food coming once the monsters show up. I have my Class that lets me call the storm that’s going on outside, so I’ll keep anyone who follows me with enough water to not die of thirst. My Occupation lets me make things, so I can make you better equipment than what you’re wearing, like this.” He tossed the Raven Mocker’s Remnant over to Mimi at that.

“In fact, you can keep a hold of that for now. It’s not doing a whole lot for me, but it’ll be great for you, especially when healing.”

As soon as Mimi Appraised the item, her eyes widened and she shook her head. “I couldn’t!”

“You can.” TJ insisted. “And you will. Put it on. Anyways. Stick around here, and I’ll keep you safe, let you hunt and grow levels, just take care of you. The country’s probably effectively dead. If it isn’t yet, I bet it will be before long. Even so, kids need to be taken care of, and I’m in the position to be able to. I’m happy to help take care of you for a while, at least until we have a better idea of what the world is gonna look like moving forward. Basically, I’d be your guardian until you’re ready to face this new world.”

“That’s option one.” Sam answered, his tone hesitant. “What’s number two?”

“I can bring you two to the ASU campus.” TJ shrugged. “I’m not sure what exactly is going on there, but there’s a guy there, Sven, who’s apparently about as strong as I am, and he’s looking to make some sort of a town. I’d guess that it’s gonna get bigger and bigger over there. If he’s as strong as I’ve been told, he’s probably going to make a safe place. I might even end up going over there, if it’s somewhere safe for me to take care of Junior.”

“Your kid?” Sam asked. TJ nodded, and Sam continued, “You have a picture of your wife and son. Where are they?”

TJ let out a long breath. “There’s… a lot to say about that. I will, it just doesn’t have to do with this conversation. Is it ok with you if I table that until after we make a tentative decision?”

Sam didn’t hesitate to nod and go along with what TJ said. Mimi did the same, her eyes looking down immediately. He was again reminded of how they must have been treated by the adults in charge of them until now. 

“Great. My story will be the next thing we talk about. Now, ASU. I don’t know what kind of leader this Sven guy will be. He might be a good guy, he might be an asshole, there’s no way to tell without going over there. I don’t mind checking it out and making a decision after we see if he’s the kinda guy you’d wanna follow.

“So, with either of those being your options, do you have any desire to stick around? Or do you want to just keep moving? I won’t try to convince you either way. And if you wanna go back into Junior’s room to talk about it, you can. I’ll stay out here and see what I can see.”

Sam went to walk back into the room, but Mimi took both Sam and TJ by surprise when she stayed, nervously met eyes with TJ, and said, “I want to stay here.”

TJ bowed his head in a slow nod, and Sam ground his teeth for a second.

“I appreciate that, Mimi.” TJ said before gesturing with his head back down the hall. “I think your brother wants to talk about it, though, so maybe you let him say what he was planning on, and then we can see where to go from there, ok?”

She merely nodded, and TJ walked out of the kitchen and towards the back door. “I’ll be just out here. If you wanna ask questions or whatever, just come on out.”

Without saying anything else, TJ strode into the rain, enjoying the feeling of the water on his skin. As he did so, he realized he wanted to wash himself up again. He’d gotten used to being filthy in the Tutorial, but with an opportunity to take a shower now, he wanted to take it. As such, he nearly stripped down and grabbed a bar of soap that was still on the back porch, but he thought for longer than that. Turning around, he looked into the dark house. There hadn’t been much light to see by, but with his Perception, he’d been able to see fine. Only then did he wonder how well the two teens had been able to see in the unlit room. 

“Hey!” TJ called in. Sam poked his head out into the main room and TJ just quickly explained, “I’m about to wash off out here. I’ll call in when it’s safe for Mimi to come out.”

Sam, unsurprisingly, didn’t seem to have any idea of how to react to that. His mouth dropped open, then he gave a thumbs up, and he walked back into the hall. TJ wasn’t sure how else to have acted in that situation, but it was definitely for the best that he made sure not to scar the children. Then, turning around the corner to be mostly out of sight, TJ soaped himself up.

—-

TJ had thought about the apocalypse in dozens of different ways in the past years. After all, with dozens of shows about zombies, diseases, asteroids, and dozens of other ends of the world, who hadn’t thought about it once or twice? One thing he’d never thought about was how sucky living without modern amenities in a damned desert would be. There were no nearby rivers, and the man-made lake nearby would probably go dry. Once the sewers stopped working, every bit of refuse was going to be HORRIBLY disgusting as it rotted. Keeping yourself clean when you couldn’t shower in the privacy of your home? Terrible. 

Long story short, TJ quickly finished his shower and was in a pair of shorts on his back porch as he towelled off. 

“I’m decent!” He shouted into the house. Then, as he stepped in, Mimi and Sam walked out. When they seemed ready to talk, TJ gestured for them to join him on the couches in the family room. 

“We’re gonna stick around for now.” Sam said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to be, but you’re giving a better option than everything else. Plus, the System is gonna give instructions in 15 minutes, so…”

“Ok. Sounds good.” TJ nodded. “Now, I think I owe you two a bit of my family history. The short answer should take us just long enough to get information after. That good with you?”

Both of the teens nodded, and TJ realized there was a question he hadn’t asked. “Real quick, you two ever want me to call you by your last name?”

“No!” The response was almost shouted from Mimi, who quickly returned to her usual embarrassed, unsure position. 

“Figured.” TJ shrugged. “Just wanted to be sure. So… Mari. My Mari died about a year ago. She was riding her bike along one of the main roads nearby when she was run over by a semi truck. She, uh… died in the hospital. It was pretty bad. The driver was drunk at the time, so we got her life insurance and a good payout from the company. We being me and Junior. We paid off the house, which we were at risk of going under on. My family had all died a couple years before that, and she wasn’t too close with her family. They live across the country, so after the funeral, they all went home and haven’t reached out. No clue if they’re still alive, kinda doubt it.

“So, it’s just me and Junior. He’s a good kid. Two and a half, a good obedient kid. Oh. Yeah… I… I miss him.”

“I’ve seen a couple of kids after the Tutorial, though.” Mimi said as TJ’s voice caught in his throat. “Why isn’t he here? Did he…” 

Though she didn’t say anything, TJ understood what she was asking. 

“No, he’s ok. I got the option to bring him back right now or later, and I chose not to for now. I didn’t know how dangerous everything here would be, and I wanted to make sure I could keep him safe. So, I’m here hoping I get a Skill that’ll help me protect him, as well as to set up a place that’s safe from monsters and evil people. I guess you could call that an ulterior motive of mine in helping you two. I’ve seen a Skill that I’m absolutely going to get before I bring him back here, one that’ll allow me to protect him better than anything I’ve ever heard of. I figure helping protect two kids will help me get the Skill.”

Both seemed a little reassured to hear another reason he had to help them beyond because he thought it was right. That was a testament to their lives thus far, and again, TJ ground his teeth in frustration at the world and how it’d treated them. Maybe the apocalypse was a good thing for them. That the thought even crossed his mind was a damned shame, but it was allowing them some measure of escape. 

“So…” Mimi hesitated to ask. TJ smiled, a tear pricking at the corner of his eye as he was reminded of his family.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think you’ll ask a bad question. Even if you do, all I’ll do is not answer it.”

“What… what’s it like losing someone you love like that?” Mimi asked, her face earnest and genuine. TJ sighed as he thought about it.

“Well. Well well well. That’s a question and a half, isn’t it.” He nodded as he subconsciously unfocused on the present for a moment. Then, just as he thought they thought he wasn’t going to answer, he spoke.

“Like I said, I’m no stranger to loss. I was close with my grandparents and parents before they died. I had a different relationship with each of ‘em. Each one hurts differently. Not having parents to ask for advice on raising Junior was hard, though I think that you'd better understand that feeling than I do. Your hurt is different, though, if I was a betting man. It was… feeling a whole lot of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys’. But nothing’s like losing a spouse. It’s… a special vintage of agony. 

“You know, Mari and I’d send memes to each other all the time. Just stupid shit.” TJ felt himself grinning. “She had a bunch of favorites, and I have them saved on my phone. Or, saved, I guess. That phone’s gone. But she had a special brand of humor. Always smiling, but not always that silly. She was happy. Damn, if she were here, she’d have insisted we adopt you two. She taught high school, actually. Not at Tempe, but at a smaller charter school down the road. 

“Anyways. That wasn’t answering your question. It’s something that’s hard to express, because it’s someone you planned on spending your whole life with. It’s not a friend who might come or go, but your love. Someone you plan on raising kids with, on going dates alongside for the rest of your life, to spoil grandchildren and retire with. To snipe at each other, to offend and apologize, to laugh and tickle and love and scream and sing and talk…”

TJ’s voice broke. 

“It was a loss of our future. It was losing those smiles, those memes, the deep conversations when we should be sleeping, the teasing when something didn’t turn out right.

“You know…” He whispered, “When I turned a corner into her after the Tutorial, a part of me almost expected to see her. It hurt just as much yesterday as it did every other day when I woke and saw an empty bed.”

They sat in silence for a minute, but TJ smiled. “So. There you have it.”

As if it’d been waiting for him to say that, that was the same second that a notification from the System appeared.

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