Already did . Amazing <| sep |> A woman ' s cries of terror split the air from where she lay pinioned beneath the man , his druginduced insanity painted across his face . Jon grabbed his shirt from behind and heaved with all of his strength . The man , completely unmoved , looked up at him from the ground , his expression turning from one of anger to bewilderment . Failing in his first effort , Jon slugged him across the face . The lack of force was more than made up for by the weight of Jon ' s gauntleted fist and the man crumpled . Jon reached out his hand to help the woman up but she scrambled away looking even more scared than she had a second ago . He tried to smile reassuringly and approached her . Don ' t worry . I ' m here to Faster than he could react , the woman snatched a rock off the street and threw it clipping him in the forehead . Oh shit ! Jon stumbled back clutching his head and saw the women darting into an alley as his vision cleared . He looked at his hand and saw a smattering of blood . You okay Jon ? a voice called out from the down the street . He looked up and saw Matt approaching , his makeshift chair leg clubs in his hands . Yea , he called back . Just a scratch . Jon had never considered himself imposing with his scrawny form and patchy beard that his mother was always telling him to trim . Seeing Matt come out of the smoke though , warpaint covering his bare chest and face , Jon realized how he might have given the woman the wrong impression . Matt took a look at the cut in his forehead . Just a scratch ! he said slapping him on the back . Probably won ' t even scar . Too bad really . Is it safe ? A quiet voice whimpered from an abandoned van behind them . Yea Gary . All good , called back Matt and Gary , tripping over his long black robes , tumbled out of the van . He clutched a hardcover book to his chest like a shield and his enormous glasses had been knocked askew . Anyone seen Jeff ? Gary said . In response came a bloodcurdling war cry through the smoke and a figure came flying at them . His fur cloak billowed out behind him and the bones curling up from his helmet lent the appearance of a demon out of Hell . The light of distant fires accentuated his rippling muscles and a crisscross of tiny cuts covered his torso . In his hands was a largest ax Jon had ever seen . The man came to a stop in front of them , a massive grin across his face . Jeff , said Jon , breaking the stunned silence . Where the hell did you find that ax ? Jeff barked a deep laugh towards the sky . Do not ask questions you do not wish to know the answers to little man . Do not fear . No Odinfearing citizens were hurt in my conquest . When Jon had moved to city for school with Matt and Gary and met Jeff they hadn ' t been sure about playing DD with him . Gary was the Dungeon Master though and he decided to give it a try and they found that playing with Jeff made the whole thing more real . He guessed that while he had always enjoyed playing his character , Jeff was his character . He ' d been the one to get them into LARPing and helped them collect some of their own gear . Of course , then the power had gone out and the world had gone to hell . Things had been alright at first , but as supplies and information had become scarce , chaos had swept in . Houses and stores were broken into and bodies started piling up in the streets . Jon and his friends had been left mercifully safe in their stocked thirdstory apartment , but as screams echoed in the air outside their window every night , they realized someone needed to do something . It had actually been Gary who realized it had to be them , and he knew exactly how they should do it . So , donning their armor and adorning themselves in warpaint , they had gone out into the night , protecting people ' s homes and rescuing those unfortunate enough to be left helpless on the streets . Jon had been scared shitless at first , but with each person they saved , he ' d found himself falling more and more into his character . It made him realize why he ' d ever played in the first place . By Odin ' s Raven ! exclaimed Jeff interrupting his reverie . You ' ve sustained an injury . He prodded the swelling bump on Jon ' s forehead bringing a fresh wave of pain . Yea , yea . It ' s nothing , said Jon , shoving Jeff ' s hand away . Just a misunderstanding with some lady I rescued . Ha ! cried Jeff . If the damsels allowed themselves to be rescued easily , they would not be worth rescuing . Come friends ! Evil abounds to the north at the crossroads of Maple and 7 th ! And off he went into the night , leaving the other three in his wake . When they finally caught him , he was peaking over the hood of an overturned Jeep . He turned and moved his pointer finger over his lips signaling caution . They crept up next to him and peered over the hood to where he was looking . The headlights of two cars lit a scene out of a movie . Kneeling on the ground , their hands on their heads was a group of about twenty bedraggledlooking people . Around them stood six men , rifles in hand . Their leader was screaming at one of the women as helpless tears streamed down her face . We have to help them , said Matt . They have children with them . Jon peaked out again and realized he was right . A boy and a girl that couldn ' t be more than seven huddled against who must have been their father crying . Despair sank in on Jon . He wanted to help as much as any of them , but who were they kidding ? They had clubs and an ax . Those men out there had guns . All they would likely do was get those people killed . Listen Matt , he said . We all want to help but . No , interrupted Gary . We have to help them . He was definitely terrified but a look of resolute steadfastness covered his face behind his glasses . It is settled then , said Jeff , loudly enough to make them wince . The grace of Bestla will protect us . He hefted his ax . Gary grabbed his arm . No , wait . We ' ll won ' t be any help without a plan , but I ' ve got an idea . He opened up his book and unfolded a sheet of grid paper , pebbles and rubble quickly forming a rough map of the area around them . As he finished laying out his strategy , a shout went up from the crowd . They peaked over just in time to see a man tear away from the kneeling group and try to run down the street . Shots rang out in the night behind him and he toppled down onto the ground bleeding . It ' s now or never , said Gary . Go ! They spread out using the abandoned cars around them as cover . Any noise they might have made was covered by the shouting of the man and the echoing of sirens helplessly far away . Jon crept into a building on the opposite side of the intersection . The second floor had been gutted by fire and was left open to the elements . He found he had to balance his way across uncovered beams to get to his vantage point but that just made his job that much easier . He gave the others a minute more to get into position but didn ' t dare wait any longer in case the men opened fire . He crouched behind the window pane , steeled himself and yelled . The man ' s tirade outside quieted . A second later he heard him bark a command and the sound of footsteps was followed by two men as they entered the building . He tipped the remnants of an armoire from its precarious perch and it crashed onto the head of one of the men below toppling him . He dropped down after it catching his friend off guard . His misjudged the swing of his club though and brought it down on the man ' s shoulder definitely breaking something but not bringing the man down . The man ' s cry of pain was choked out by gunshots as bullets ripped into the building around him . He was protected from the first volley by the man standing in front of him but he was forced into cover as the man fell . The shots were replaced by cries of alarm and Jon stole a glance out the window . Silhouetted by the headlights of a car was a tornado of destruction . Jeff ' s ax felled one of the men before they ' d known he was there . He closed the gap with a second before he could lift his rifle and they tumbled to the ground wrestling for control of the man ' s sidearm . The last grunt raised his rifle but was cut off by Matt who leaped out knocking the weapon from his hand . The leader raised his weapon to aim at Matt but a pitifully squeaky battlecry brought his attention around to Gary as he charged out from cover , his robes tied comically above his knees . He collided with the man but was thrown off tumbled to the ground . Jon scrambled up and charged out into the fray but there was no way he could make it in time . The man raised his gun and aimed . His shot was knocked wide as the woman plowed into him from the side . The other captives were jolted out of their shock and swarmed to help piling on top of the man . Some split off to help Jeff and Matt and the fighting was quickly finished . Jon shoved through the exultant crowd and knelt over Gary . He wasn ' t moving . Jon grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him . Gary ! Ouch . Dammit ! Jon , stop ! That hurts ! Jon let go and Gary sat up . Blood trickled down his arm where the bullet had gone straight through . The shadows of Matt and Jeff loomed over them and Gary smiled . You remember what I said three months ago when we started the campaign ? Well , I admit it . I was wrong . Jon looked at his friends confused . I have no memory of this , bellowed Jeff behind him . Matt spoke , a smile on his face . I think it was something like , ' Three Barbarians ? That will never work . '