I bolted to the next caravan, dodging the carcass of one of the oxen. My feet pounded against the sand in tune with my heartbeat. A pebble hit my shoulder. I tried to stay focused as three leaves splattered into the other ox. It gave a wufflely groan as it died. My heart raced.

  A rock flew past my face.

  As I slid across the last yard, a leaf hit my back and sliced against my shoulder blade. It stung, but as I breathed heavily underneath my new shelter, I knew it was superficial.

  "Good job, Cole!" Ash yelled, giving me a big thumbs up.

  I quickly started reaching up from under the wagon to pull the first board out of the cargo bed. Thankfully a leaf must have cut through the tie-downs, as a few of the boards had bounced out a few feet. The wood was long and wide, meant to build up clean stall fronts for the merchants. The wagon had been specialty built for the traveling shopkeepers. I tried not to think about how they were likely dead. No one had been under this wagon when I slid in.

  Ash had told me he needed three to four boards. I wrapped my fingers experimentally around the top one and lifted. It gave, but I grunted with the effort as it shimmied out. My body was shielded by the board, but my hands were exposed to the hazardous rain. I prayed to the Everbear silently that I wouldn’t lose a finger.

  Pausing, realization hit that this wasn’t going to be straightforward. The bodies of the oxen sat motionless and sad between me and the rest of the party.

  Sweat dripped off my forehead as I strained to tip the wood sideways and arced the board across the ox’s horns. The board balanced as I pushed it forward until most of the eight-foot board was on Ash's side and I lost leverage on it.

  Tandy shimmied out from under their wagon, Richard still wrapped around her head like an unwanted headdress. She grabbed the base and pulled it towards the party. A rock hit Richard hard enough to brain Tandy. The slug, however, just squeaked and looked a little dazed.

  A leaf flew past my face, and I realized I wasn't as covered as I'd been with the six inch wide board above my head. Stepping back, I readied myself to grab the next board.

  All of it went smoothly until I tried to grab the final board for Ash's plan.

  I pulled, but the board was stuck. It was wedged between whatever else was in the back of the wagon. I pulled, expecting it to slide out like the others had. Instead, it stuck firm, and I fell forward. My hands slammed into the sand, and my body followed right into one of the aspen leaves sticking up from the ground.

  The leaf slid into my chest like a heated knife through butter.

  It hurt, and unthinkingly, I pushed up, forgetting everything I'd learned about puncture wounds. The leaf pulled out, and I ducked back into the wagon.

  "Are you okay?" Tandy called over the pelting debris.

  "I'm fine!" I lied. There wasn't anything she could do, and although blood stained the front of my shirt, there wasn't anything anyone could safely do until I pulled the wood out. I gripped it with my hands, and this time I tried wiggling it back and forth. With a grunt of pain, my pec muscle twinged. The board slid forward an inch, then two.

  I stopped and took a moment to remove the bloody leaf from the ground in case I tripped.

  Gripping the board, I wiggled it again. Inch by inch. With my heart thumping in my ears, I felt the slow ooze of blood.

  My stamina bar was tanking, but this had to be done. With the board loosening, I made eye contact with Ash.

  "Are you ready?" I yelled.

  Ash looked up from the board he was working on, confused.

  "For what?"

  I figured he was ready enough and put every ounce of strength I had shoving forward. Just as I got my legs behind me to push, my arm cramped.

  Shit.

  The board shot loose, and as my arm gave, went sideways off the tip of the ox's horn. It hit the metal rim of the wagon wheel and skittered to the right of their wagon, lying ominously in the sand.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  I thought about running back across, but the intensity of the deadly hail had picked up. Three of us sat hunched under our respective wagons, uselessly scratching our heads. Tandy, however, was already moving. She'd gotten some of her ever-present rope out and had already lassoed an end. It glowed with her distinct golden magic, and when she threw it, it snaked magically around the wooden board.

  She pulled it under their cover. The oxen blocked some of my view, but I could hear Ash hammering his idea together.

  My gaze focused on our approaching doom. The sky had started to actually grow dark as the wind funnel had expanded. The perspective was odd. I couldn't decide if it was actually coming closer or simply growing towards us.

  I've got a concussion, but even I know you should try putting pressure on that wound.

  I looked down at the red splotch on my shirt. Apparently, as an [Adventurer], I needed to invest in stock in shirts. I ripped off my remaining sleeve and opened up the hole in my shirt further, ready to see the worst. The leaf had gotten me right below what my [First Aid] skill told me was my heart. I could breathe, so it hadn't made it to my lungs. Pawing at my chest, however, I couldn't find the wound.

  I stretched my arm, trying to mimic the action that'd made it twinge earlier, and felt no additional pain. Checking my status, I received an unwelcome notification.

  [[Cheat Death] has triggered. Your [Gelatinous] state and [Gelatinous Regeneration] have combined to form [Gelatinous Absorption]. This new skill grants some regeneration, but triples down on your [Gelatinous] nature, increasing resistance and healing from puncture wounds as they self-seal. You are less resistant to [Heat].]

  [[Warning] - The heat of your current environment combined with [Gelatinous Absorption] and [Gills] has caused you to earn the state: [Heat Cramps]. This state will cause unwanted and unanticipated cramping and can only be relieved by a cooler environment. If you continue to expose yourself to heat, this will progress to [Heat Exhaustion].]

  [First Aid] triggered, and I realized water would help slow its progression. Grabbing my canteen from the tattered pack on my back, I started slurping down water. A timer had appeared in the corner, and even in the wagon’s shade, I only had about 2 hours before I was going to progress to [Heat Exhaustion]. I knew that death would be one of the next stages if I didn't figure out how to get out of the sun.

  What was worse than any of the issues with the heat was that I'd already used my trump card, [Cheat Death]. It had a day-long cool down, and I'd used it by being clumsy, instead of battling the funnel of death headed our way.

  Richard was right. I needed to get serious about training the skill. [Gelatinous Absorption] didn't seem too bad, even if it had upped my heat intolerance in the middle of the desert. That was probably just the [System] being a massive dick.

  Tandy interrupted my thoughts, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

  Blinking, I found my three friends holding up a wooden eight foot long shield above their heads. Ash had manufactured handles with his magic, and the whole shield looked reinforced.

  Are you going to join us, or gawk all day?

  Richard had come down from Tandy's head, his slime doing nothing to improve her new hairstyle. He sat with his fringe slowly tapping her shoulder as though he was impatient to hop back on me. I took one quick glance at the sky, realizing quickly there was no way to predict what was going to fall, and I put my life into luck and leaped across the small expanse, ducking so I didn't hit my head on the edge of the curved board.

  My body felt an electric zap as I ducked under an invisible shimmer of silver magic.

  Ash's face looked strained as he gave me a quick smile as I slotted in between him and Tandy. I held out a hand to Richard so he could rejoin me.

  "I'm going to take us to the next wagon." Tandy didn't ask anyone's opinion. She just started shambling forward. I didn't have any handles to grab, so I just shuffled, trying to stay awkwardly in place between my two teammates.

  Richard clung to my chest. His foot tickled as he slithered across my nonexistent abs. My chest was mostly bare between all the slices and wound care.

  I can't find the injury.

  I realized he'd been planning on gluing me back together again.

  "There are none, I'm fine. Get on my shoulders."

  How? Richard sounded almost drunk. He had to be [Concussed].

  "I'll explain later." I waved his question away. There was no way I was going to explain [Gelatinous Absorption] or just how screwed I was without [Cheat Death] to a [Concussed] slug.

  "If you're done talking to Richard, and you aren't injured, could you take my spot?" Ash asked meekly. He sounded tired. I looked back at him as Tandy slowed. His hands glowed silver as he imbued the wooden shield. I realized instantly that his power hadn't infused the makeshift shield but was an active power that drew energy from him.

  "I've got it." I shuffled over, taking his place. Ash gave a relieved smile until we both saw Tandy's face.

  "No one made it from this wagon, let's keep moving." Her shoulders slumped, and her face was oddly blank. I made the mistake of glancing over as we started marching past.

  A wagon driver sat sightlessly staring into space as she still clutched her obviously deceased child to her chest.

  I looked back at Meredeath, just to check. She gave a silent shake of her head. From the hardness in her eyes, I wasn't sure we were going to run into many survivors.

  The next three wagons were equally depressing. The fourth, however, gave me hope.

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