Author's Note: Xenicibis is/was real. The weird wing has been the subject of recent articles. The behavior that is coming in the next chapter is fictitious, but may be/have been plausible.

Chapter Seven, After Armageddon

Becker smiled as he casually walked down the sweets aisle of the corner shop. Jess skipped happily ahead of him, stopping to gather some of her necessities: chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate.

He cocked his head and watched as she daintily squatted down, mindful of the shortness of the shirt, to get bars on the bottom shelf. He smiled wider.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, your happy outfit is working, that's all."

She giggled.

Her bright orange heels accented the rest of her bright 'happy' outfit: a neon blue short skirt with colorful dots, and a low-cut, sea-foam turquoise top. A shiny red heart necklace Becker had given her hung around her neck.

"I'm very happy that it is," she said.

He smiled. Looking at the chocolate in her basket, he said, "We probably should get some real food."

"Oh, if you insist," she said with a grin.

They walked down a few aisles. "Kind of bare," she said.

"Yeah. I guess supplies haven't gotten through."

"It's sporadic," said Jess. "Like everything. Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"Not really. I like this store. Fred, the owner, is a good guy. I'd rather give him our money."

Jess nodded, leaned up on her toes, and kissed him. "He's not the only good guy."

He chuckled.

Becker found some sports drinks, vitamin water, health food bars, and protein shakes.

"I'm good," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "How can you be so...healthy," she said, glancing lustfully up and down his body, "eating that junk?"

He looked at the chocolate in her basket, gave her the same all over look, and said, "Ditto."

She hit him in the shoulder. He laughed.

"Do they have anything more food-like?" she asked.

Becker shrugged. "I still don't understand what constitutes Jess food, sorry."

She scowled. "Bread would qualify. Cheese, milk, yogurt, maybe some chicken or turkey."

"That's actually very sensible," he said.

"You're being bad, you know that right?"

He smirked.

The bread was pretty much gone, but Jess found a honey, grain loaf that she'd eat. She also found one package of cheese, three tubs of yogurt, and a container of chicken salad.

"Not much, but it will do," she said.

Becker threw in some teas and a container of coffee. "We're going to be drinking this stuff like crazy when we're back on duty."

She nodded.

As they went to check out they heard a commotion.

People ran by the shop. A man stuck his head in. "More creatures!"

"Run for your life!" yelled one of the customers.

People shouted, and pushed, screamed and ran. Jess clung to Becker. Becker reached for his gun.

"He's got a gun!"

"Give me it!" cried on man, trying to grab it out of Becker's hands. "I have a pregnant girlfriend here!"

Becker finally had to punch the man to get him off.

"Honey!" screamed the girlfriend.

"Quiet!" screamed Becker. "Calm down! You're going to get people hurt!"

Becker's authoritative voice was enough to get quiet and relative calm.

"Did anyone see a creature?"

"No."

"Someone did."

"Everyone get back, away from the doors and windows, and stay calm," he said. He went to a window. "Nothing in the vicinity. Jess?"

Jess had already pulled a mini ADD device, and an emergency scanner from her bag. "Nothing. No anomalies, no creature reports."

"Do you guys work for the creature catchers?" asked one young girl.

Becker smiled. "We do." He nodded at Jess. "She has an alarm. If there were creatures, it would be going off."

"What about the yellow lights?" asked a woman.

"I'd be alerted to those as well," said Jess. "There are no alerts."

Just then, both the scanner and the ADD went off. People started screaming, crying, and panicking.

"Stop it! We can't act like this!" screamed Becker. They didn't listen until he asked, "Do you want to live?"

They stopped. Then they all nodded, terror on their faces.

"Right. Fred?"

"I'm here, Becker," said a man about thirty. He was average build, and slightly shorter than Becker.

"Got a basement?" asked Becker, "Or a vault?"

"Just the beer cooler," said Fred.

"Can everyone fit inside?" asked Becker.

Fred looked at the small mob of about twelve. "I think so."

"Get them in it," said Becker. The crowd starting pushing and running. "Calmly! Take care of the children and the elderly."

Slowly, they moved. People ushered the children in front, and a young man helped a woman with a cane. An older woman helped the pregnant lady.

Jess smiled at Becker. "I love you."

Becker smiled back. "At least they'll stay together. If I have to defend them, it might be easier. What do we have?" he asked, gesturing to the tech devices.

"Don't know yet. The anomaly is close," she said. "No reports of creatures."

"Right. Stay close to me."

Jess snickered. "No problem."

She had an emergency comm link in her bag. Becker had one in his pocket.

"Jess Parker and Captain Becker to ARC personnel. To you read? This is an emergency. We're close to the anomaly sight."

"Miss Parker, I read you. This is Swinton at the ADD. I'm patching you into Corporal Bern, he's leading the team."

"Bern, do you copy, it's Becker?"

"Copy, Captain. Looks like you're going to have to work on your off-duty time."

"Yeah, it does. We're at the news agent on Malburn Street. We've got about a dozen civilians with us. The ADD registers an anomaly close by, but so far we've got no contact with creatures."

"Copy. Are you armed?"

"Just a handgun."

"Becker?" asked Fred, behind them. Becker turned to see that he was holding two handguns, and two tazers. "I keep them locked in my office. All the turmoil lately..."

"Fred, I love you," said Becker. Jess laughed heartily. "Can you fire them?" Becker asked. Fred nodded.

"Right, give one of the guns to Jess, you keep the other, give the tazers to people who look competent. Do not fire. If we see creatures, we'll yell for you."

Fred nodded, and went back to the cooler.

"Slightly better firepower," said Jess.

Becker grimaced. "I'd rather have an EMD. Don't tell Matt."

Jess smiled.

"Captain? Miss Parker?" asked Swinton. "I have bad news."

"What sort of creature, and how many?" asked Becker.

"They've been identified as Xenicibis, a flightless bird, relative of the modern Ibis, about the size of a large chicken. They had unusual wings that scientists theorize were used as weapons, kind of like nunchucks."

"Excuse me?"

"I know it sounds weird, Captain, but's that what the research file says. They were believed to be able to use the hand bones, hinged at the wrist, to deliver blows."

"Huh," said Jess. "That is weird."

"The size of a chicken, you said," said Becker.

"That's right. The bad news is there isn't one, or even two of them, Captain."

"How many?"

"About a hundred."

"Nice," said Becker.

"Coming your way."

"Even nicer," he said. "Still, we lock the doors, stay back, we should be OK."

"I've dispatched another team, Captain. They're bringing extra EMDs for you and Miss Parker."

"Acknowledged," said Becker.

"Thank you Swinton."

"Anytime, Miss Parker. ETA to you is about ten minutes, the second team in fifteen."

"Roger," said Becker. He turned to Jess. "Go brief the others, gently."

"Right." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Let's hope they're boring, gentle chickens."

"Yeah." She walked away, and he watched her go. "What are the odds of that?"

End of Chapter Seven