Chapter 18

  Ginny had finished her first use of Run it Off! and just started the second, when a familiar sheriff’s cruiser squealed to a stop in front of her. Brendon leaned out of the passenger side window, easier to do with the window having been expanded to take up half the door by the bear monster they’d encountered earlier on the way to the bowling alley.

  “Ginny!”

  Ginny grunted out a response as she continued running, weaving around the cruiser with her head down and forward. She’d felt drastically better after finishing the first use of her ridiculous healing ability, the pain radiating throughout her body lessening to a degree that indicated her injuries were approaching a level that a normal human could conceivably actually survive.

  HP: 116/300

  “Ginny?” Brendon called out again, his tone less received and more confused this time as she ran past without stopping. After she’d first used Run it Off back in the woods, she’d wondered how her ability qualified ‘running’. She’d started out sprinting full tilt, but even when she’d slowed to something barely above a quick jog, it had still worked. This particular instance didn’t seem like a great time to test out just how slowly she could go, however. In the short time between entering the bowling alley and fleeing from it, the town had changed. The silence of the night had been broken, and the darkness echoed with screams, roars, and all manner of monstrous cries. Ginny had caught glimpses of things with too many eyes, too many hands, too many *mouths*, watching her from the sides of the road. Nothing had done more than watch, and the reason for that was unfortunately apparent.

  Whatever brief period of hesitation had kept the majority of newly spawned monsters from moving out in the open had clearly ended. Human screams were a clearly heard part of the chorus of cries filling the town. Windows that had shown hints of blood were now shattered, with people dragged screaming from inside their homes, and monsters that had lurked in the shadows at the backs of alleyways now openly stalked through the streets of the city.

  “Ginny!” Brendon’s third attempt at getting her attention was a shout, accompanied by the young man pushing himself fully out of the ruined window of the cruiser, managing to twist and land on the street with only a slight stumble.

  “Take Mark.” Ginny called back as Brendon jogged up beside her. So far, the monsters had left her alone, perhaps because an armed and actively running individual was an unnecessary effort when there was no shortage of humans to prey upon. Still, while he was still breathing, the boy remained unconscious, and whatever injuries he had suffered when the three of them were all smashed into the wall earlier were probably not being done any good by being bounced around by Ginny as she ran.

  Brendon blinked and opened his mouth in confusion but ultimately took the boy without saying anything. The hand-off was awkward and clumsy with both of them running side by side, but Ginny clearly wasn’t the only one whose Strength stat had grown beyond normal for a human, with Brendon managing to get Mark draped over one shoulder as gently as possible, before reaching out for Norah, who had been observing the exchange of her brother’s unconscious body with her usual still silence.

  Ginny felt Norah twist around on her back to stare at Brendon, and the young man took a reflexive step backwards, jerking back the hand that had been reaching out for her. He stumbled to a stop, falling behind as Ginny ran on. Run it Off was almost done doing its thing, and she didn’t have the mana for another use of it, so she didn’t want to risk ending it early by stopping.

  “W-what the hell!? What’s…” The obvious unease and fear in Brendon’s voice made Ginny grit her teeth, angry at him for being scared of a little girl, and even more angry at herself for whatever role she had played in making that little girl into something that it was perfectly reasonable to be scared of.

  “She’s fine.” Ginny’s words came out harshly, her frustration only partially hidden by the breathy tone that came from trying to hold a conversation while running. “Just leave her there, I’ll stop in a minute.” Norah hugged onto Ginny’s neck more tightly in response, and Ginny’s frustration was overtaken by a quieter and more bitter emotion. The other reason that Ginny suspected the monsters she had been running around were leaving her alone was because of Norah.

  A couple times in the last few minutes of running, when one of the monsters on the side of the road had shown a bit more interest in her and her charges, eyes following a bit too long or long and twisted hands or claws or tentacles starting to reach out in their direction, Ginny had felt Norah shift on her back, turning and staring at the monster the same way she’d just done to Brendon. The monsters had quickly drawn back, not wanting any part of whatever they saw on the little girl’s face. One that looked like a large ape covered in a strange oily sheen instead of hair, had let out a hooting scream, and fled into a nearby alleyway to cower by a dumpster. Apparently, Norah’s Path wasn’t an exaggeration. As Ginny felt the warmth of pain being eased and flesh knitting itself back together that signaled Run It Off working, she slowed to a jog then a stop, calling up Norah’s character sheet again as Brendon hesitantly approached from behind.

  Name: Norah Miller

  Race: Human (Extra)

  Age: 10

  Template: Extra

  Path: Scary Little Girl

  Level: 2

  Health: 43/60

  Mana: 10/70

  UNALLOCATED: 2

  STRENGTH: 2

  REFLEXES: 3

  SPEED: 4

  VITALITY: 3

  ATUNEMENT: 5

  IMAGINATION: 6

  WILLPOWER: 6

  FAITH: 4

  CHARISMA: 9

  AWARENESS: 4

  LUCK: 7

  Conditions: Shock, Tired, Bruised, Blood Drenched

  Abilities:

  Passive:

  Extra (Lvl MAX)

  Unnerving Silence (Lvl 1)

  Background Character (Lvl 2)

  Active:

  Frightening Stare (Lvl 2)

  Scream (Lvl 2)

  Skills:

  First Aid (Lvl 2)

  High Society (Lvl 1)

  Intimidation (Lvl 1)

  Swimming (Lvl 1)

  Ginny noticed a couple changes that confirmed her suspicions about Norah keeping the monsters away. Her mana had dropped noticeably since they’d left the bowling alley. And her Frightening Stare ability had increased to level 2. The full description of that ability flashed up on a separate blue screen as Ginny focused on it.

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  Frightening Stare: (Costs 10 Mana). Your eyes have seen enough horrible and frightening things, that echoes of those nightmares can be seen by anyone who looks into them. By locking gazes with another creature, you can inspire an overwhelming sense of terror and desire to flee from you in them. This ability is based on your CHARISMA and is contested by your target’s WILLPOWER.

  Ginny sighed as she turned back to face Brendon who was still looking at her with a mixture of unease and confusion, his gaze flickering from her face to over her shoulder to stare at Norah, then back.

  “It’s an ability I have.” Ginny said, her breathing quickly returning to normal. “I mentioned back in the bowling alley, that I have an ability that makes me good at running?” He nodded quickly, and Ginny continued. “That’s why I didn’t stop. It heals me up, but I have to actively be running to use it. After what happened in the bowling alley I… really needed it.”

  HP: 186/300

  She glanced at her much-restored health total. It looked a lot better, which was good, since she didn’t have the mana to use Run It Off again. Brendon nodded again, a bit of the confusion disappearing from his face, although the unease remained. The two of them made their way back toward the police cruiser, which had slowly been rolling after them both. Ginny saw the sheriff’s tall form leaning over the steering wheel, eyes alternately tracking them as they jogged towards the cruiser and scanning the surroundings.

  “What, uh… what happened? Back at the bowling alley, I mean. We saw you stab that thing, and it started following you towards the back.” Brendon trailed off, glancing at Norah again and then back to Ginny, raising an eyebrow with an unspoken question as they reached the cruiser.

  “Where’s Amos?” An unspoken question that the sheriff, unfortunately, was not willing to leave unspoken. The lawman leaned down to stare at Ginny out the ruined passenger window of the cruiser, as Brendon struggled to wrench open the rear door and deposit Mark there. Ginny felt Norah’s arms tighten further around her neck, enough that she started to have trouble breathing. She shook her head quickly at the sheriff, while patting Norah’s arm, both to provide a bit of comfort, and to draw the little girl’s attention to the fact that she was actively choking Ginny at this point. The arms immediately relaxed and loosened, and Ginny took a deep breath before shaking her head at the sheriff again. His face tightened, and he shifted his attention back to the road ahead as Brendon directed her to the backseat while climbing back into the passenger side window into the front.

  Ginny ducked to climb into the passenger seat, shifting letting Norah climb down from her back. She hesitated before getting into the cruiser. Somehow, the backseat was just as crowded than last time she’d been in the back of a police cruiser. Mark’s unconscious form was leaned against deputy Williams, whose clearly still broken leg was stretched out as much as possible in the limited legroom, a sheen of pained sweat on her face as she raised a hand to wave tiredly at Ginny. Ginny did her best not to jostle either of them too much as she climbed in and pulled Norah onto her lap, although based on the quiet hisses of pain from the deputy, she wasn’t entirely successful.

  “We need to find a place to hole up and get some supplies to patch everyone up.” The sheriff’s voice had that quiet, reassuring tone of authority to it, and Ginny wondered if he had an ability for that, or if it was just years of experience as the small town’s highest representation of law. Brendon, who was apparently immune to it regardless, snorted in response.

  “Like where? I’m pretty sure I saw doors getting torn off of hinges while we were circling around to behind the bowling alley, and APPARENTLY things can just make doors appear inside of buildings that they can just stroll out of whenever they want.” The sheriff’s hands tightened on the wheel, and the deputy glared at Brendon from the back seat.

  “The things outside were keeping their distance when we had guards up and the doors barricaded. As long as we make sure there’s not another one of those portals inside, we should be able to fortify a location, at least until we figure out a plan.” The sheriff’s voice didn’t have a hint of annoyance in it as he responded, although his grip on the steering wheel remained white-knuckle tight.

  “I think,” Ginny chimed in quickly, before Brendon could say something negative, unhelpful, and worst of all, true. “I think the door being there was why the monsters were staying away from the bowling alley.”

  “Explain.” The sheriff’s eyes glanced at her in the rear-view mirror, and she looked at Brendon, who had fully twisted around in his seat to look at her.

  “Remember what Rinaxis said? He said that the monsters had an instinct to avoid Depths Doors. I’m assuming they could tell that one was inside the bowling alley, and that was why they wouldn’t go near it.” Brendon nodded in response.

  “Oh yeah! Yeah, he said that’s part of why shops are safe zones. So, we just need to find another Depths Door.” He twisted back around in his seat, scanning the road ahead like he was hoping to see a door pop up in the middle of the road in front of them. Which, to be fair, was exactly how they had found their first Depths Door. “Preferably one without a giant cannibal with a thirty-foot tongue inside.”

  Ginny winced, and the deputy glared at Brendon again. The sheriff shook his head as he drove.

  “First thing we’re doing is heading back to the station. There are first aid supplies for Williams and the rest of you could use some patching up as well. Once we’ve gotten some supplies, we can look into finding one of these magic doors of yours.”

  The sheriff took his eyes off the road long enough to frown sternly at Brendon, then sighed as he turned back to the road, jerking the wheel smoothly to avoid a manhole cover lifting off the ground as something pushed on it from below.

  “Preferably one without a giant cannibal with a thirty-foot tongue inside.” He repeated in agreement, and Brendon nodded.

  ***

  Ginny half expected them to arrive back at the police station to find it in ruins, or actively on fire, or overflowing with monsters. Instead, the building was much as they’d last seen it, with the exception of the cell that had formerly held the sleeping drunk being empty, although the keys that the sheriff had tossed in were still on the cell floor. Whether that was because something had spirited the man away through the locked door, or whether the drunk was the kind of jerk who would have tossed the keys back into the cell after letting himself out, Ginny wasn’t sure. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure which of the two possibilities was more likely.

  That was just the way the night had been going so far.

  While the sheriff splinted up deputy Williams’ leg and checked over Mark, Ginny, Brendon, and Norah, huddled together around a large map of the town. Brendon pulled a small device out of his pocket, which he absently informed Ginny was a telephone of all things, even as he started tapping at the screen intently. Faced with the reminder of some of the inherent differences between her movie and the real world, she chose to take him at his word. Though she was curious about what he was doing with a phone, since he clearly wasn’t talking to anyone on it.

  “Doomscrolling on a whole new, and alarmingly literal level.” Brendon mumbled to himself, his expression growing steadily grimmer as he stared at the phone. Ginny leaned over curiously, and her eyes widened slightly as she saw a small screen that Brendon had apparently been poking at. She briefly saw what looked like a street in some major city, flanked by towering chrome and glass buildings. Massive dark shapes with an alarming number of legs crawled down the sides, as a stampede of terrified people ran through the street, dozens of them being grabbed by long and spindly limbs with too many joints. Brendon swiped his thumb across the screen, and the scene disappeared.

  “Okay, so… things are terrible everywhere. Gonna try and find some more local stuff.” Brendon started tapping at the phone again with a frown. Ginny shook her head, leaning back against the wall with a frown. The comforting and warm hand of Survivor’s Will struggling to tamp down the fear rising up in her was like a warm blanket wrapped tightly around her. Up until now, even after what Rinaxis had told them about what was happening to the world, she’d been going at this with the same mindset that she’d had with the Blood Drinkers, to outrun them, to cut them off at the source, to escape the camp back to a world without monsters. But now, there was no world without monsters.

  Where am I supposed to run to when the whole world is like this?

  Brendon drew her out of her increasingly morose musing with an excited and pleased exclamation.

  “Rudy’s still okay!” Brendon’s tense posture relaxed, and he grinned at Ginny before he tapped the phone a few more times and then held it in front of him, screen up. A trilling electronic ringing sound played loudly, and the sheriff looked over curiously from where he was inspecting the large gun safe in the corner. “I am definitely going to need to introduce you to Rudy, he’s gonna flip. In fact, don’t say anything, it’ll be funnier if he’s surprised later.”

  “What will be funnier if who’s surprised later?” The voice that came out of the phone was deep and tinged with exhaustion. Brendon’s face lit up.

  “Rudy! Never mind, never mind, you’re okay! I saw you were posting about what was going on, so I figured you were, but…” Brendon trailed off and then cleared his throat. “I’m just glad you’re okay, man. It’s really bad.”

  “Indeed. Although, of the two of us, I feel like the one who was actively chemically incapacitating himself out in the woods when the apocalypse happened is the more reasonable one to be worried about.” The deep voice contained only a mild hint of reproach, and Ginny could sense the relief hidden behind the other man’s words clearly. “Where are you? I’m assuming you are not still out in the woods, if you have the signal to check your feed and call me.”

  Brendon shook his head quickly. “Nah, I’m at the police station.”

  There was silence from the phone for a second, and then a heavy sigh. “Brendon…”

  “Not like that!” Brendon responded quickly, rolling his eyes. “I met up with Deputy Doug and…” He glanced over at Ginny, still grinning. “…and a couple other people. We tried to get to the bowling alley, but this monster got inside and started a massacre. Everyone had to run, and we ended up back at the police station.” His tone grew a bit quieter. “Sarah’s leg got broken, the sheriff’s patching them up.”

  “I see. I’m glad she, and the rest of you, made it out of there.” Rudy’s rich and deep voice contained both sympathy and relief, and Ginny felt Survivor’s Will relax slightly, as his voice helped take the edge off the ever-present anxiety in her stomach. She blinked and called up her character sheet curiously.

  Conditions: Bruised, Filthy, Blood Drenched, Tired, Voice Made for Radio.

  Voice Made for Radio: You are listening to a voice made for radio. Smooth, rich, and capable of imparting information, granting comfort and courage, or instilling mass panic, the effect this condition has depends on the intentions of the speaker. Currently, Voice Made for Radio is providing a small bonus to resist fear, panic, and despair related effects.

  Huh.

  Ginny finished quickly reading through the detailed description of the new condition that had appeared on her sheet as the conversation continued.

  “Never mind that, where are YOU at, man? Your posts were talking about stuff that’s happening all over town. Don’t tell me you’re out biking around town on your own.” Brendon asked, his tone joking, but with an undercurrent of concern.

  “Of course not.” Rudy scoffed. “This voice is made for radio, not out in the thick of things.” Ginny made a face at that, and Brendon raised an eyebrow at her, as Rudy continued, unaware. “I am up in the studio, watching what is happening from on high. I saw the mass exodus from Pin Falls earlier, although I did not realize you were caught up in that scramble.”

  “That’s our radioman, always with an eye on what’s happening in town.” Brendon laughed, although it sounded slightly forced, and he hesitated before continuing. “…How does it look, Rudy?”

  “If you were at the bowling alley, I think you have a good idea of how it looks, Brendon. Most of the town is completely overrun. Monsters of all kinds are wandering the streets in packs.” Something about what Rudy said tickled at the back of her mind, and Ginny narrowed her eyes.

  Most of the town.

  Several things slid into place in her mind, and before Brendon could react, Ginny grabbed the phone out of his hand, leaning in close and speaking quickly.

  “Which parts aren’t completely overrun?”