Beast Taming In The Apocalypse

Chapter 5: We Just Might Survive This After All

Waking up, the first thing Kingdom felt was pain. Excruciating, all-over pain. Opening his eyes, he saw the sun was low. Night was coming fast. He needed to get home. Home was safe. Out here, injured like this, was not.

He let out a painful grunt as he sat up, propping himself against the massive corpse of the mutant cow. Chaser walked over and gently nudged his good hand. The wolf’s burns looked better than before. There was still no fur, but the blisters were gone, replaced by patches of new, pink skin.

Patting Chaser’s head, Kingdom said softly, “We need to get back to the house. I don’t want to be out here when it gets dark.”

Chaser seemed to understand. He nudged Kingdom’s shoulder, urging him to get up. Standing was agony. Kingdom sharply inhaled—he definitely had broken ribs. Every movement sent sharp jolts through his chest. Clenching his jaw, he started the slow walk home, using Chaser as a living crutch the whole way.

Finally making it back, Kingdom locked every door before collapsing onto the living room couch. Lying there, he pulled up his stats before he passed out again.

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Name: Kingdom Graham

Level: 10

Class: None

Vitality (VIT): 8

Strength (STR): 6

Dexterity (DEX): 7

Agility (AGI): 7

Intelligence (INT): 5

Wisdom (WIS): 4

Unassigned Points: 5

Skills: None

Tamed Beasts:

Chaser (click to see info)

---

I leveled up to 10? That cow was strong enough to give me five whole levels. He wasn’t surprised. A fire-breathing cow would always be dangerous.

“Add two points to Vitality. Give Strength, Agility, and Dexterity one point each,” he commanded.

The familiar warmth washed over him, soothing the deep aches and easing his exhaustion just a little. He closed the panel and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

---

Kingdom woke up to a warm ray of sunshine on his face, which was quickly replaced by a warm, wet tongue.

“Hahaha, enough, Chaser! I’m alive. Just sore.”

Sitting up, he examined his body. His t-shirt was shredded and stiff with dried blood. Chaser, in comparison, looked much better. The burnt skin was now smooth and pink, and black fur was already starting to grow back in short patches. Ripping off the ruined shirt, he headed to the bathroom to clean up.

Wait. No running water?

He turned the tap. Nothing. It made sense. With monsters and zombies everywhere, keeping the power and water running would be impossible. Cell phones were dead, too. He could only imagine the total panic everyone was experiencing.

Wait. Dad kept a generator in the basement. I’ll have to thank him for that next time I see him.

Smiling at the thought, he headed downstairs to get it started. But as he passed a window, he froze.

The spacious yard he knew was gone. In its place was a dense wall of trees. An actual forest.

What the hell happened last night? It’s only been one day. How is this possible?

“Chaser, let’s check this out,” Kingdom said, unsheathing his sword and heading outside.

The house was surrounded. Countless trees had sprouted overnight. These weren’t saplings. They were full-grown, many over thirty centimeters thick, with some even larger. Thick vines were already crawling up the sides of the house, as if nature was aggressively taking back the land.

Through the new woods, Kingdom saw movement. Multiple goblins skulked between the trunks. He also saw large rodents, each the size of a medium dog, with coarse brown fur. What shocked him was their behavior. Some rodents were eating dead goblins. Others were fighting and eating each other.

I have to leave. The thought was clear. He was reluctant to abandon his family home, but this area was no longer safe. It wasn't even recognizable.

He closed the door quietly and went back inside. Grabbing a backpack from his room, he started to pack. He filled it with granola bars and other non-perishable food, a water bottle, and a fresh change of clothes. He changed out of his torn, bloody clothes and into the clean ones.

From his dad’s room, he grabbed a map of Western Canada and a compass. He needed a plan. His parents were on vacation in Banff. That was over 550 kilometers away.

I’ll head to Lloydminster first and resupply.

He didn’t want to deal with other people, but he had no choice if he wanted more food and supplies. Plotting his course on the map, he folded it up, stuffed it in his backpack, and headed back outside.

“I’ll handle the goblins. You take out those rodent things,” Kingdom told Chaser.

Then he ran toward the nearest goblin.

Slash!

A goblin’s head flew off before it could cry out. Without hesitating, Kingdom moved to the next closest one, driving his sword straight through its chest.

Adding those attribute points really does help, he thought, testing his new abilities. He was faster, stronger, and his reactions were quicker. Killing these goblins was easier than before.

If he faced that fire-breathing cow again, he felt confident he could kill it without getting so badly injured. Heck, he’d almost done it last time. If he’d just stayed alert and dodged that kick, he would have been fine.

He turned to check on Chaser. The wolf was standing surrounded by dead rodents, still calmly finishing off the last two. Watching him, Kingdom realized Chaser seemed stronger, too. His movements were smoother, more fluid, and his attacks carried a new, explosive power.

As Chaser crushed the final rodent’s skull with a single bite, Kingdom allowed himself a small, hopeful smile.

We just might survive this after all.