Ranma sat on the roof of the Kingsmouth Firehouse, trying to see through the dense fog with the height he'd gained.
He'd gathered a large amount of supplies, more than a single person, even a Bee, would be able to. Anima enhanced Hidden Weapons space was very useful and versatile. Since his task was done he'd decided to do some recon. Unfortunately the fog worked against him, having thickened significantly since his team had arrived at the sheriff's station, to the point it was nearly impossible to see the other side of the street when on the sidewalk. The locals advised them that it was normal. For what passed as normality now, at least.
He hoped that the girls weren't having trouble. He was reconsidering the decision to let them go on their own so soon, but he was confident that as long as they only fought the zombies and ran from anything like the undead hulk he'd decapitated then they should be fine.
Looking back out over the town he could see a bit farther over the foggy streets, enough to see the wall out to sea.
A mile or so from the island's coast a literal wall of fog rose almost a mile high, swirling around the small island. It reminded Ranma of being in the eye of a hurricane, the relative calm while the storm surrounded you, knowing you were only safe momentarily before nature's fury crashed back down on you. Except nature didn't have anything to do with what was happening on Solomon Island.
Ranma sighed, not for the first time wondering what the people of his old life would think of his current one. Then he shook the thought off, because the answers he came up with always served to either irritate or depress him.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone began buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out he looked to see he'd received an email from one of his employees, Callie James. It came with an attachment that he knew was a report on the latest mission he'd sent the fifteen year old on.
'Hey boss. I got the artifact you wanted. Had to dodge a couple of Phoenicians, but a creative application of fire distracted them long enough for me to get to Agartha. Thing's back in the usual location with John. Need anything else? And how's your experiment going?'
Ranma smiled, pleased. He quickly responded, telling her he was glad she was okay and praising her good work as he usually did. Really, he was very glad he'd snatched her up before the Templars had.
He'd just sent the message off when the phone began to ring with a phone call. Looking at the caller ID he raised an eyebrow when he was met with the image of large amount of insects. Bees, obviously. He quickly answered, bringing the phone to his ear. He didn't bother with a greeting.
"New recruits to your project?" The computerized voice of a text to speech program said as soon as he'd put the phone to his ear.
"Rookies." Ranma said with a smile. "No allegiances, no expectations. The factions basically gave me blank slates to guide."
A beat of silence as whoever was on the other end typed out a response. "Will they be sympathetic to us?" The program asked.
Ranma considered that. "I think so. They seem to be good girls so far. When they find out about the Hive they probably won't be happy. I think we can count on their help." He became serious. "But you leave them to me. Don't try to contact them. Not until I give the okay."
Some more silence. "We will wait. Then, we will test them."
Ranma grunted, expecting nothing less. He and The Swarm may work together, but that was mainly him trying to keep them from going too far in their endeavors.
As the call ended the martial artist slumped slightly, rubbing his temple. He was juggling too many things. Back in Nerima all he worried about was surviving the day without getting his head cracked open by a rival or fiancee. Now he was a peacekeeper trying to keep the world from descending into chaos, involved in multiple conspiracies, doing things that would end up with him royally fucked if his superiors heard about them, and directing a large group of people under his command to do the same.
It still surprised him, even after years of thinking it, but… "Gods help me, I actually miss the days of the Wrecking Crew…"
Amanda grunted as she stood on the small handrail by the door to Kingsmouth Savings and Loan, removing the security camera mounted above it.. They'd already gotten the one sitting above the Sycoil gas station by clambering onto the roof. As the only one of the three with any in depth knowledge of electronics, it was up to her to remove them from their mounts as the other two kept a watch for any enemies.
After selecting their targets and grabbing one of the town maps Sheriff Bannerman had laying around, the three girls had headed out to gather the cameras while Ranma went off on his scavenging mission. The first obstacle that presented itself wasn't the zombies, but how thick the fog had gotten while they'd been inside with the sheriff. It couldn't be natural, but the townies had said it had happened several times since everything began. The main problem it brought was that the limited visibility kept them from knowing what enemies there were nearby.
The girls had quickly realized how true that was. Walking along Elm Street ("Seriously?" Liz had grumbled) they only had the noise the rushing zombies made to warn them of attacks. They'd had to move slowly and methodically, watching each other's backs, and even then they'd all received several wounds that Chun Hei had been forced to heal.
The busty Brit was pulled from her thoughts when she almost toppled from her perch and onto the Halloween decorations hanging from the neighboring business once the camera came free of its mount. She quickly hopped down to solid ground and put her prize in the bag Liz was carrying, making the blonde grunt as she kept her rifle up in case of an attack. "Where to now?"
"The Franklin Foundation Mining Museum." Chun Hei said as she studied the map in her hands. She looked up and pointed at a large building across the street. "It's right there."
Amanda picked up her hammer from where she'd left it against a wall. "Alright then, let's get this done so we can get back to the sheriff's station and relax till the boss gets back."
As the three began to walk Liz sighed. "I feel like I'm in a freaking Sam Krieg novel or something. Seriously, If you'd told me this morning I'd be killing zombies in New England, I'da stayed in bed."
"I just hope we can help the survivors. Maybe if we find out what caused this we can get it to stop." Amanda said.
Chun Hei didn't say anything, but her face revealed that she wasn't very hopeful.
When the three reached the mining museum's front entrance they practically tripped over a group of zombies devouring the body of an overweight older man. One of them looked up and spotted them, and with a rasping gurgle it stood up and rushed them, its companions following its lead.
Amanda immediately swung at the lead zombie's head, smashing it in. The thing didn't drop like a human would have to such damage, but it stumbled, which was enough time for Chun Hei to launch a spell that finished it off while Liz began to shoot the rest.
The three girls were quickly getting into the swing of fighting zombies. The corpses were predictable, and if you'd fought one then you'd fought them all. All three were surprised by how quickly it was becoming almost routine, but their growing combat capabilities and familiarity with each other made things much, much easier.
Once the final zombie fell the girls caught their breath. "Alright, where's the camera?" Liz asked, glancing around at the museum's doorway. Her attention was diverted when Chun Hei groaned and pointed upwards to the roof, where the camera sat high up alongside an American flag. "Oh great. Perfect."
"Guess we should look around for some way to make it up there." Amanda said, glancing around for a ladder or something to climb on top of.
Once again Chun Hei was the one to spot what they needed. "Over here." She said, directing the others to a tall ladder propped against the wall.
"Excellent." Amanda said with a grin, quickly climbing up it and making her way around the roof to where the camera was mounted. However, when she reached it she saw that the casing was cracked and it had a note attached to it. Picking the paper up she quickly read it over.
'Josiah, this is the one that needs changing. Have it done before I'm back from Bangor. New cameras are in the basement. Remember to fill out the repair form and file it with the museum admins. -James Morris (FMM Janitor)'
Amanda raised an eyebrow before dropping to the ground where the other two girls were waiting for her. "Why'd you leave the camera up there?" Liz asked.
"It's broken." The dark skinned girl responded, handing Liz the note. "Apparently they've got a bunch of brand new ones in the basement, though. We should probably just go and grab those before heading back. It'll give the survivors replacements, just in case."
Chun Hei nodded in agreement at the idea. "Yes, that sounds reasonable."
Liz grunted and nodded. "Let's get it done, then. I want to get back to the sheriff's office and take a breather." She promptly walked into the museum, rifle up in case of any trouble, the other two quickly following after her.
The inside of the museum wasn't much to look at. There was a display in the middle of the room with a diorama of the inside of a mine, and the walls had large pictures displaying miners and mining equipment. The stairs leading to the second floor were obstructed by a hastily put together barricade. "Riveting." Liz said drily as she looked around.
Chun Hei moved over to the blocked stairs. "Hello? Is there anybody there?" No noise was heard from the second floor. "Hello? We're here to help you. We can take you to the sheriff's station." Yet again, only silence answered her, and she sighed.
"Guess there's nobody up there." Amanda said.
Liz opened the door to the basement, aiming her rifle below, gratified that the basement was both well illuminated and clear of zombies. "Looks like we won't have any trouble down here." Amanda turned to stare at Liz, making the blonde uncomfortable. "What?"
"I can't believe you tempted fate like that…" Amanda said slowly.
Liz scowled. "Oh come on, that only happens in shitty fiction."
Amanda raised an eyebrow, glancing at Chun Hei who looked back, confused, before sighing and moving to the basement stairs, hefting her hammer. "If we explode or something, I'm blaming you."
"Yeah, yeah…" Liz grumbled, letting the melee fighter go first, Chun Hei bringing up the rear as usual.
As the girls were reaching the bottom of the stairs Amanda was the first to notice the basement's other occupant. "Hey, I think that's the janitor." She said, pointing at the other end of the hallway they were in, where a black man was kneeling, his head down. "Maybe we can ask him where the cameras are."
As the girls all approached Chun Hei suddenly gasped, flinging her arm out to stop the others. "I do not think he is well."
"Wha?" Liz uttered, before she spotted what Chun Hei was referring to.
The man wasn't dark skinned like they'd first thought. His skin was unnaturally black, like crude oil had been slathered all over it. Most disturbingly was movement coming from what they'd thought was hair but was actually tentacles of the same oily substance.
"Filth." Amanda whispered, remembering what she'd seen in her dream.
The janitor looked up at them, eyes glowing yellow. "I think you should go away… You should go away now!" He said, his voice distorted as he began to stand. "You need to go away because I'm not feeling very stable right now!" Then, rather than attack them like they were halfway expecting, he ran away around the corner and out of sight, moving jerkily and unnaturally.
The girls were silent for a moment, getting over what they saw. "That…" Liz began. "That looks like what's affecting Tokyo…"
Chun Hei turned to the blonde, surprised. "How did you know about that?"
"I saw it in this weird dream, or vision, or whatever, when I was first recruited. They put me in hypnosis, or something." Liz said, still shaken.
"Really? Did it involve a group of Bees fighting through a subway in Tokyo?" Amanda asked, surprised. When Liz nodded she tilted her head. "Huh. Same here. I passed out listening to a 'prophet' in London, and I saw that too." The two girls turned to the Korean of the group expectantly.
Chun Hei blushed, for several reasons. "Something similar happened to me. I saw from the point of view of a girl called Sarah…"
Liz scratched her head before setting that aside. "Alright, so how did the Filth, whatever the fuck it actually is, get to Kingsmouth? Is that what's causing everything?"
The other two were silent, pondering the question. "We need to tell Ranma." Chun Hei finally said, wanting to pass the buck to somebody more qualified.
Amanda nodded in agreement, pulling out her phone. She paused before groaning. "Fuck, we never got each others' numbers, did we?"
Liz groaned as well before shaking her head in annoyance. "Whatever, we'll see him soon enough. We'll correct that oversight then. Let's get this dealt with and see if we can do anything about the janitor." The others nodded in agreement, prompting the girls to follow after the Filthy man.
Amanda was turning the corner, hammer held up in case of any attacks, but jerked to a stop when Chun Hei screeched "Stop!"
Liz turned to her companion, wincing. "Chun Hei, what the hell?"
Chun Hei was shaking, staring at Amanda. "Don't… move…" She whispered.
Amanda swallowed, not reassured by the way the asian girl was acting. "Chun Hei, what's wrong?"
"Look down." Was the response, prompting the black girl to do so, seeing that her foot was… inches away from a motion sensing laser!?
Amanda stared. "Um, maybe it's for an alarm?"
"I don't think so." Liz said, just as shakily, pointing at a block of material attached high up on the wall.
Amanda stared harder, a bead of sweat trailing down her face. Slowly, very slowly indeed, she slid her foot away from the laser. "Is that fucking plastic explosive?"
"I think so…" Liz said, eyes wide as she looked around the basement. "And it isn't the only block, either."
The other two looked around as well, seeing several more blocks plastered around on the walls and even the ceiling. Chun Hei looked back and saw several bundles back the way they'd come which they hadn't paid any attention to before. "By the gods…" She said softly.
"What in all the actual fuck?" Liz said as she finally got over her shock. "How the hell did this guy get his hands on so much of the stuff, not to mention rig it all with motion sensors? I mean, why the hell would a museum have enough explosives to level a New York City skyscraper?"
Amanda licked suddenly dry lips. "I don't know, but we're going to have to be very, very careful going further in."
Chun Hei was shaking. "Shouldn't we just leave? Can we not get cameras somewhere else?"
"This isn't about cameras." Amanda said seriously. "If we all saw the same vision, then we all know how dangerous the Filth is. We can't let this guy go around spreading it, maybe infecting other people. And we need to find out how he got infected so we can stop it. Or at least so we can tell Ranma."
The other two hesitated before Liz growled. "Fuck it, you're right. We need to at least put the poor bastard down."
Chun Hei thought a bit longer before nodding. "Y-yes, you're right."
Amanda nodded, reassured that they were agreeing with her. Because a very vocal part of her really wanted to just turn around and leave. "Alright, be very, very careful." Then she turned back around and gingerly stepped over the motion sensor.
The three girls made their way forward through the hallways of the basement, avoiding more motion sensors. Before long, however, they found a literal wall of motion sensing lasers blocking their path about a third of the way through the hall which none of them could possibly get through. "Now what do we do?" Liz growled.
Chun Hei peered into a large storage room off to the side, spotting what looked like a control panel through a gap in some shelves that blocked the way. "I think we might be able to turn it off with that…"
Liz and Amanda glanced over as well. "Worth a shot." The American of the group said. She threw her rifle over her shoulder and got ready to climb over the shelves to reach it when Amanda grabbed her shirt, stopping her. "What now?" She growled.
Amanda pointed at a camera mounted against the far wall, watching the area, not seeing them due to some items in the way. "What do you want to bet, with the way things are going, that the camera is linked to the explosives too?"
All three considered it before Liz sighed. "Better not risk it, then. What do we do, though?"
"I don't know. Chun Hei?" Amanda asked, turning only to blink as she saw the slim girl begin hugging the wall, going around the side opposite of where they needed to go.
"What is she doing?" Liz hissed.
Chun Hei moved slowly, hugging the wall the entire time, her form shaking with fear and her gaze locked on the camera. She circled the room at an agonizing pace, and her companions held their breath as she slowly moved underneath the camera, out of its field of view. Finally, with shaking legs, Chun Hei reached the control panel. Tapping on it Amanda and Liz saw the wall of motion sensors deactivate and both sighed in relief.
Amanda glanced at the camera and smiled, seeing that the light that indicated it was powered up was dark. "Chun Hei, the camera's off. You don't have to sneak around to come back."
Chun Hei quickly jogged around the shelves before dropping to her knees in front of the others, panting harshly and shaking like a newborn deer. "That was scary." She whimpered.
Amanda patted the girl's shoulder reassuringly. "You did good." She said. "Hopefully there isn't anything else in our way."
Chun Hei nodded before standing up, having recovered her strength. She then followed the other girls as they continued on.
Soon enough they reached the end of the hallway. They could see the janitor standing in the shadows, swaying lightly, the tentacles of filth coming out of his head writhing about. He looked up at them with glowing red eyes before launching himself at them with a screech.
Both Liz and Chun Hei immediately attacked, bullets and magic slamming into the man as Amanda set her feet, ready to swing. The janitor was surprisingly resilient, managing to power through the girls' attacks till he was close enough for the hacker to swing her hammer at his head. He staggered, but didn't go down even as he was continuously pummeled with attacks. So Amanda swung again, and then again, keeping the filth infected man out of attack range. Finally he had enough, whatever supernatural durability he had being overwhelmed, and he dropped to the ground with a final, rattling gasp.
The girls lowered their weapons when the fight ended, catching their breaths. None of them noticed anything amiss at first, however Liz glanced at the man's body in time to see the filth covering it begin to swell. Her eyes widened. "Get back!" She stumbled away from the body, the other two following her lead just in time, as there was a burst of filth that emanated from the body, covering the ground around it in a radius of a few feet.
The girls stared, wary in case of any more nasty surprises. After thirty seconds of nothing happening they once again relaxed, glancing at each other and holstering their weapons. "Did the ones in Tokyo do that?" Amanda asked, confused.
"Maybe? I don't remember. The entire thing was pretty hectic." Liz said, Chun Hei nodding in agreement.
Stepping around the pool of filth, Amanda made her way to the shelves that the janitor had been standing beside. A box with an Anansi logo sat there, and when she peered into it she saw security cameras sealed carefully in plastic. "Bingo." She pulled the box off the shelf. "Alright, got what we came for."
Liz was snapping pictures of the janitor with her phone to show to Ranma and send to her superiors. "Good. Least we got something out of this little detour…"
"I think I found how this man was infected." Chun Hei said from where she stood over a cardboard box that was sitting on the floor in the corner. The other two approached her, seeing a large rock sitting in the box, filth tentacles lashing at the air from cracks in its surface.
"Yeah, I'd say this was what got him." Liz said, snapping a picture of the rock.
"Alright, we got what we came for." Amanda said as she hefted the box of cameras. "Let's get back to the sheriff's station and get this all set up."
The other two agreed, and they then proceeded to leave the Mining Museum basement, thankful that all the lasers had been turned off.
A half hour later the girls were drinking some Bingo! Cola as they rested beside the sheriff station's lone cell. The security cameras were up and running, Liz and Chun Hei setting them up while Amanda prepared the software. Before too long the defenders had advanced warning of zombie attacks coming from all directions, much to Sheriff Bannerman's happiness.
Liz closed her eyes as she tried to relax, doing her best to ignore the gunfire coming from outside as the defenders held off the zombies. She was trying to gather her thoughts, having not had much of an opportunity to do so since they'd arrived in Kingsmouth. Her life had gone completely insane within the span of a week, and she was still trying to come to terms with it.
She looked over at Amanda, who was fiddling with her phone. She remembered that the Brit had said she was a hacker, which meant she was probably doing something esoteric to the device which Liz wouldn't be able to even begin to comprehend.
Chun Hei was dozing lightly, having been awake longer than the other girls due to the effect of time zones. That plus the many shocks to the system she'd received recently made her exhausted.
The blonde looked back over at the other conscious member of their party. "What do you think we'll be doing next, Amanda?"
Amanda looked up from where she was fiddling with her phone before putting on a thoughtful face. "Well, I'd say that we'll start investigating the town to figure out what's going on once Ranma gets back. The survivors will have supplies and early warning then, so they should be able to hold out long enough for us to find out what's causing this and how to stop it. They should be safe once we do that." The dark skinned girl pocketed her phone and got up, picking up her hammer and cracking her neck. "I'm going outside to see if there's anything I can help out with."
Liz sighed. "Guess I should come with you, then…"
Amanda waved her off. "Nah, you stay here and rest a bit. I'll come get you if I need help." Putting her weapon on the holster on her back, she then proceeded to walk out of the sheriff's station.
The fog was still thick, though not as much as it had been before. As she looked around she saw grim, tired people holding weapons, ready to fight off any attackers. Hopelessness shone in the faces, and the young hacker felt her heart ache for them all.
Deciding to see if the people keeping watch on the roof needed anything, Amanda headed for the stairs that wrapped around a corner of the station leading up. As she was climbing she spotted something she hadn't been expecting.
Behind the building, in the empty space between the station and the chain link fence, sat an anima well. As golden light spilled out of the ground, green grass and other vegetation growing from cracks in the cement, the rookie Bee felt rejuvenated just by being near it. She wondered what it would be like to actually step into it, but decided to put of finding out for the moment and continue with what she was doing. Though she did make sure to make a mental note of the location in case it became necessary later.
Reaching the roof she saw four survivors in various places along the edge, three of them holding rifles in order to snipe any attackers, which was easier said than done considering the fog's thickness. The last man wore a deputy's uniform and stood on the corner of the roof that hung over the station's entrance, a cheap plastic chair with a rifle propped up against it beside him. Around him he had boxes of ammunition and food, meaning that he was in charge of keeping the snipers supplied. Deciding that he was the best person to talk to, Amanda quickly approached.
The man jumped when she tapped him on the shoulder with a friendly hello, whirling around. "Geez, ya spooked me! And I figured I was fresh outta scares." He was a somewhat plain man, slightly on the right side of attractive, with an open, expressive face that needed a shave, and slightly tousled brown hair. He blinked when he saw her. "Ain't seen you around before."
"I'm Amanda." She said, shaking his hand. "I'm here to investigate what's happening and hopefully put an end to it."
"Andy." he said with a smile. "I mean, Deputy Gardener."
"Nice to meet you, deputy." She said cheerfully.
"Likewise. I sure hope you can do something about this." Andy said before turning back to look over the town as the fog lifted a bit more. "Geez, you never saw anything like this in the cop shows." He paused in thought for a moment. "Well, maybe on cable. Not the network ones." Then he sighed, looking pained. "You wouldn't know it from looking out there, but before that wicked bad fog rolled in, Kingsmouth was a sleepy little burg."
"I would imagine so…" Amanda said softly, sad at seeing the obvious love the man had for his devastated town.
"Nothing stronger on the streets than a hot cup of coffee and chocolate glazed donuts from Susie's." He said with a small, nostalgic smile. "The occasional DUI or domestic disturbance." He said with a shrug. "Human sacrifice…" Came next in almost a mutter.
Amanda blinked. "...Wot?"
"But every town has a dark side, right?" Andy continued with a somber smile and another shrug, apparently not noticing how weirded out Amanda suddenly was. "We sure are are getting a heaped helping of darkness now, ayuh?" The Maine accent was very appropriate on him, Amanda thought, getting over his previous comment. "Walking dead, and worse besides, takin over our town. Us survivors holed up in here hoping it's all just a bad dream and we will wake up to the smell of bacon and maple syrup." He sighed and turned from seeing a zombie get gunned down as it rushed the opening in the survivors' barricade to look at her, eyes sad and despairing. "But unless someone ups and does something, and soon, all we're gonna wake up to is the smell of rotten flesh…" He looked back out over the town, voice displaying his sadness. "...And I don't need another thing to remind me of my dad." He ran a hand through his hair. "Halloween does bring back the memories, ayuh…"
Amanda patted Andy's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll stop whatever is causing this…" Then she walked away as he murmured his thanks, maintaining his vigil.
Lost in thought as she walked back to the stairs leading below, movement caught Amanda's eye. A couple of zombies were bashing at the fence near the anima well, trying to get in but not having any success. She stared at them for a moment before her shoulders straightened. She knew what she needed to do.
Walking back into the station her gaze turned to Liz and a now conscious Chun Hei, who were eating some granola bars. Quickly moving over to them she clapped her hands. "Alright girls, finish up your meals. We need to go out and kill some zombies."
Liz looked up, swallowing her mouthful of food. "There a problem the locals can't solve?"
Amanda shook her head. "I just think we should lighten the load. They've been fighting non-stop, and they're normal people. We have superpowers, so we might as well make things easier on them." She shrugged. "Besides, what else do we have to do till Ranma gets back?"
The other two glanced at each other thoughtfully before Chun Hei nodded slowly. "Alright." Liz said, shoving the last of the granola bar into her mouth before standing up and grabbing her rifle. "Let's get this done, then."
Once Chun Hei did the same, all three walked out of the station and passed the barricaded fences. Then they began killing the zombies banging against said barricades.
The survivors, in an effort to preserve precious ammunition, were letting the zombies that didn't head directly for the entrances ineffectually attack the barricade as long as they were too few in number to actually inflict much, if any, damage. That didn't mean, however, that some of the undead didn't sometimes wander off to attack said entrances, so there was some risk in leaving them alone.
The girls, however, didn't need to worry about conserving ammunition, so they went on a killing spree, bringing the zombie population down to more manageable levels.
It was as they were killing the last of the zombies by the road that had led the Bees to the station from Agartha that sirens began to ring, making them all look up in some surprise. "We've got trouble coming from the north side!" One of the sheriff's deputies said over the PA, her voice tense.
"I suppose this is the effect of having cameras to give early warning." Chun Hei said as the three hurried to where the attack was coming from. They reached the large grassy area between the station and the nearest house in time to see another deputy and a civilian fire at an approaching mass of undead, intending to hold them off with the assistance of the snipers on the roof.
Amanda rushed in, swinging her hammer with all her might at the closest zombie, decapitating it and making it crumple as Liz stood back and began to fire into the mass of dead flesh, Chun Hei joining the attack as well but focusing more on keeping everybody stable.
The fight was chaotic, especially for Amanda, who was in the thick of it. She was the stone the zombies broke upon, keeping the Kingsmouth survivors from being overwhelmed even as they supported her with their firearms, which were a semi-auto rifle and a shotgun.
As the last zombie succumbed to one of Chun Hei's spells Liz wiped her forehead of the sweat that had accumulated on it. "Whew. Well, that's handled." She groaned when the siren rang again with the announcement that the southern barricade was now the one being threatened. "I had to say it, didn't I?"
Chun Hei sighed tiredly. "It seems so." The three girls quickly hurried to the southern barricade which faced Elm Street and thus the coast of the island. They had a few moments to catch their breaths before half a dozen zombies ran up the street to attack.
The group once again fought the attackers off, showing how much their teamwork had improved in a short time, and how used they were becoming to fighting zombies. However, when the last zombie fell another group appeared from out of the fog, starting the fight all over again.
"Goddammit!" Liz growled the third time that happened. "Where the fuck are they coming from? And why does this shit seem almost coordinated?"
"I don't know." Amanda grunted after smashing the head of a fallen zombie to pulp. "But we need to find out." She turned to one of the locals. "Stay here and keep guard. We're going to find out what's going on."
"Alright ma'am." The deputy said. "Be careful out there." Amanda smiled and nodded before leading her team down Elm Street.
Halfway down the street another group of zombies attacked them, this one thankfully a bit smaller and more manageable, letting the three Bees beat them quickly and continue on their way. They stopped in their tracks, however, when they reached the corner of Elm and Belmont.
Standing between the Mining Museum and the Sycoil station, with three zombies roaming aimlessly around it, was a huge monster. It stood twice as tall as a normal man, and it was covered with what seemed to be a dark blue and pink mix between chitin and coral, red seaweed clinging to its form. On its shoulders rose spikes of the coral like substance from which more seaweed hung. What appeared to be its head was just more of the substance in the vague shape of one, its actual skull like face resting in its chest, a tentacle wriggling from one of its eye sockets.
What drew the most attention, however, was its enormous, lobster like claws that were attached to large, muscular arms. They were big enough that the girls didn't doubt it would be able to shear one of the zombies wandering around in half with ease. From underneath one of its armpits what seemed to be a more normal looking, human arm emerged, looking dead and decayed, like a corpse that had been in the water too long.
"What the fuck is that?" Liz asked, wide eyed.
Amanda lifted her phone with a slightly shaky hand, taking a picture to document the monster and do a search on it later. "I have no idea, but I think it's what's sending the zombies to the station."
"That means we have to kill it." Chun Hei whimpered, hands shaking with fear.
Amanda swallowed. "Alright, I'm going to draw the thing's attention. You two take out the zombies first so they don't overwhelm us, then help me kill it."
Liz let out a long breath. "Alright." She gripped her rifle tightly before bringing it up, aiming at the closest zombie. "Ready."
Amanda gave herself a shake before quickly rushing at the enemy with a battle cry on her lips. The huge monster turned and looked at her before letting out a roar, the zombies immediately moving to attack. Liz and Chun Hei began their own assault at that moment, drawing the zombies' attention while Amanda swung her hammer at her target, hitting the armor on one of its claws which it had brought up to block her. It growled at her, but the Templar growled back and moved away as it swung at her. Thus began a dance of attacks and counter attacks between them while the other girls dealt with the zombies.
Without Amanda helping them by drawing the zombies' attention, Liz and Chun Hei had to be much more careful. The Korean girl kept backpedaling away from the attacks as she frantically launched blood magic at her foes, trying to take them down as quickly as possible. Liz, for her part, fired a barrage into the head of a zombie five feet away from her on full auto, turning her target into so much unattached meat.
Chun Hei managed to bring down one of the zombies, smiling at her accomplishment, but continuing to avoid the last zombie, which was also attacking her. Unfortunately she didn't pay attention to where she was dodging to.
"Chun Hei, look out!" She heard Amanda scream behind her, and she turned around only to let out a shriek of fear and surprise as one of the massive claws clamped around her belly, the monster lifting her up with its prodigious strength.
"Let her go, you son of a bitch!" Amanda roared as she slammed her hammer into the thing's chest over and over, staggering it. Liz, who had been caught off guard, was just raising her rifle back up to join in the assault when Chun Hei let out a cry of agony as the sharp pincer holding her snapped shut, separating her torso from her lower body in a shower of gore, both halves of the girl falling to the floor with a thud.
Liz shrieked with rage and started firing at the monster's face, not stopping even when she felt the weapon begin to heat up. The abomination roared and brought up a pincer to protect itself, the other moving to grab Amanda, who had frozen in place in horror. However, just as it was about to do so, a black and white blur slammed into it, sending it flying several feet into the gas station.
Ranma stood in the place the monster had, hands glowing with energy and eyes narrowed wrathfully, stormy blue eyes practically glowing with power. Liz and Amanda only had time to note that much before he launched himself back at his opponent.
Seeing that Ranma had things in hand, Liz and Amanda rushed over to Chun Hei. She was struggling to breath, eyes wide and afraid as she looked up at the sky, tears falling down her cheeks. A mass of gore had spilled out of her, her intestines strewn across the ground, blood pooling underneath her.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Amanda repeated, horror and fear coursing through her as she took in her teammate's state.
Liz hurriedly kneeled beside Chun Hei's head. "Chun Hei, sweety, we're here, ok? Ranma showed up." She gently caressed the other girl's soft cheek, brushing her dark hair away from her face. "He'll…" He breath hitched as she began to cry. "He'll know what to do, okay? Just hang in there." Her voice cracked at the end as Amanda joined her at Chun Hei's other side, grabbing the girl's hand and squeezing it tightly.
Chun Hei tried to speak, but couldn't seem to manage it, choking on blood that spilled out of her mouth. Her eyes sought the other two's, desperate for reassurance. "I…" She finally managed. "I'm scared…"
Liz almost broke down completely. "I know, honey. I know. But you're going to be fine. You'll see."
None of the girls heard the monster's death cry as it fell to the ground with an earth shaking crash. None of them cared. Chun Hei let out one final, bloody sob, before she stopped breathing and her eyes became unseeing.
Amanda wept, her tears landing on the dead girl's face, which was still a rictus of fear and pain. She only looked up when Ranma rested his hand on his shoulder. "Let her go. We need to leave."
Liz looked up at him as well, and a spark of anger appeared in her eyes. "What the fuck? You want to just… just leave her here? Don't you fucking give a damn?"
Ranma simply pointed down at the body, and the others looked down at it, jumping back in surprise when they saw it begin to disappear into motes of golden light. "Come on, we need to hurry." He began to run up Elm Street, shifting to female form for more speed.
Her subordinates didn't understand what was going on, but they quickly got up and hurried after their boss. When they reached the sheriff's station they saw Ranma jump over the barricade rather than go around to the entrance, something neither of the two could do, so they had to take the long way around.
Once passed the barricade they saw Ranma's kung fu pant covered leg disappear around the corner under the stairs. They hurried after her only to find her standing in front of the anima well that Amanda had noticed before. They were about to ask her what she was doing when she pointed at the well. The two looked at what she was pointing at only for their breaths to catch.
In the middle of the well the golden light that continuously spilled from it began to coalesce, taking the shape of a female human body. Then there was a small flash of light, and Chun Hei lay on the grassy ground, eyes closed, but breathing gently. She looked completely fine, and even had the clothes she'd been wearing when she died on. Then her eyes snapped open, and she sat up, looking around in fear, eyes darting around before they latched onto the others.
Her eyes began to tear up and Ranma quickly knelt in front of her her, wrapping her arms around the traumatized ravenette, who began to cry in the redhead's embrace.
"Shh…" Ranma said soothing. "It's okay, Chun Hei. It's okay. You're alright now, and that thing can't hurt you anymore. Let it out."
Chun Hei didn't need further encouragement, and she clutched at Ranma's silk shirt, great, wracking sobs ripping through her body.
Liz and Amanda could only watch, relief warring with disbelief in their hearts. Then Amanda slowly approached and knelt down, wrapping her arms around the two, offering and taking her own comfort as well. After a moment's hesitation Liz did the same, and all four sat in the anima well for a long time as Chun Hei cried.
Sheesh. Been a while, huh?
I actually meant to have this out weeks ago, but there have been some developments at work that have caused issues. People quitting, people getting fired, shift changes… And the future won't be much better in terms of writing. I'll probably only be able to get the next chapter of Survival of the Fittest?, the Pat A Ron poll winner, out next week (hopefully) before stopping for the month due to having new training I have to do.
In any case, It's late, but It's longer than my chapters normally are, so I hope that makes up for it.
I don't really have much to say. I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget you get a say in what I update if you donate to my Pat A Ron at dotcom /athanmortis.
Please review. See you next time!