Path of Dragons

Alyssa knelt in the park across the street from the police station. Next to her was Roman, with the other three a few feet behind. She asked, “What do you think?”

“It’s not good,” he said, clutching his bow. Alyssa noticed that his knuckles were white, and if she was honest, she didn’t blame him even a little. On their way through town, they’d seen plenty of evidence that the world, as they knew it, was gone. They’d even had to fight a couple of battles, though with Alyssa’s Heavy Blows-empowered machete and Roman’s bow skills, none of the mutated creatures had lasted long.

Thankfully, they hadn’t seen anything like that first wolf monster they’d encountered.

“Do you think it’s another wolf?” she asked, still studying the shattered glass of the front door. “Or something worse? Maybe one of those huge racoons?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, running his hand through his hair. He looked as bad as Alyssa felt. Just like her, he took the little town’s safety as his personal responsibility, and they’d seen plenty of evidence of just how thoroughly they’d failed in that endeavor. Not that they could have predicted that the world would be transformed overnight, but still, it hit them both extremely hard.

Especially when they’d seen the bodies.

So far, there had only been a few, and they were so chewed up that they were unrecognizable. Even so, no one in their little group had been unaffected.

Alyssa rested her hand on the grip of her pistol. Not because she thought it would do much good. If nothing else, the trip across town had proven just how ineffective firearms were against the transformed creatures. Even the racoons, which seemed to be the weakest monsters they’d encountered, took an entire magazine to put down. The machete at her hip had proven a much more reliable weapon.

The same was true of Roman’s bow.

Even Carmen’s shotgun, which she’d gotten from the gun safe in their basement, hadn’t done much, and she’d been forced to fight with the old softball bat. It hadn’t lasted long, and she’d replaced it with a solid steel crowbar which, with her Strength, was devastating.

The one who’d taken it worst was Trish. She was a nice enough woman, but she just wasn’t built for the apocalypse. Prone to panic and incapable of acting in a crisis, she was more of a liability than an asset. Even her ability to heal couldn’t change that.

By comparison, Miguel was taking the end of the world remarkably well. Certainly, he was frightened. What eight-year-old wouldn’t be? But he’d proven his mothers’ son, and he’d responded to the dire situation by searching for ways to make himself useful. At present, he was the group’s pack mule, carrying extra ammunition and a few bottles of water.

Their other supplies were in shopping carts they’d taken from the market.

“We’re going to have to go in soon,” Alyssa said, glancing at the sky. The sun was almost to the horizon, which meant night would soon be upon them. None of them wanted to be outside after sunset, which meant they needed to clear the station out, then secure it so they could hole up for the night.

In the morning, they would establish more permanent defenses.

“I know,” Roman stated, shaking his head. “I don’t like it. There’s something in there. I know it.”

“Does that change anything?” Alyssa asked. “We can’t go back.”

Indeed, the house was miles away, and it would take at least twenty minutes to reach any other building that might offer any security.

“I’m aware. I’m just not looking forward to what we have to do.”

“That’s fair.”

“Where do you think everyone else is?” he asked. They’d only seen a few townspeople along the way, and none of them seemed keen on doing anything but barricading themselves in their houses. Even when Alyssa had offered to protect them, they’d remained silent. Not for the first time, she recognized that being a police officer didn’t exactly engender trust. The relationship between law enforcement and the general populace had been shattered, and it seemed that the end of the world hadn’t changed that.

Alyssa shrugged. “I don’t think it’s healthy to think about that right now,” she said. “Okay, so here’s what I’m thinking. I’ll run in there and –”

“By yourself? No chance.”

“Just listen, alright? I’ll run in there. I got that new ability,” she said. Indeed, she’d gained a level along the way, and it had granted her a new ability:

Charge

Dash forward at 200% your normal speed for three seconds. Your next attack will do 30% more damage.

“I can go in, see what’s in there, and if I get in trouble, I’ll use Charge,” she said. “That way, I can lead them out here, where you’ll be waiting to fill them full of arrows.”

“It sounds dangerous.”

“More than taking Trish and Miggy in there?” she asked. “Because I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of letting my son in that building until I know for sure there aren’t any monsters. Too much can go wrong in an enclosed space. If keeping him safe means I have to take on a little more, then so be it.”

Alyssa had worked with Roman for almost five years, so she knew him well enough to recognize the sour expression for what it was. He didn’t like the plan, but he also had no alternative proposal. The reality was that the trip across town had taken a lot longer than any of them could have anticipated, and now, they were overextended. With night coming, they didn’t have a lot of choices.

Stolen story; please report.

“We could go back to the bank,” he said. “It’s less than a mile away.”

“There are probably monsters there, too. You saw that hole in the front window,” Alyssa reminded him. Indeed, they’d only passed a couple of buildings that hadn’t been breached, and none that were close enough to reach before dark. “You know I’m right, Chief. This is the best option. Besides, you can set that new ability of yours up, too.”

“I don’t trust it,” he muttered.

“Embrace the magic, chief,” she said, forcing a grin she didn’t really feel. “That’s all we can do at this point.”

Alyssa understood his reservations. It was one thing to use something like Heavy Blows, which just made her better at something she was already doing. But to manifest a trap out of nothing? That was enough to hammer home just how much things had changed. Sure, the monsters did the same, but it required a different sort of response than being able to use magic.

Or Ethera, as every notification seemed to remind them.

In Roman’s case, his second ability – or spell, as it was categorized – let him set a magical trap that hobbled any hostile creature that passed through. The effect didn’t last more than a few seconds, but the one time they’d tested it, the spell had worked extremely well. How it differentiated between enemies and allies was still a mystery, but it managed it all the same.

“Let’s do it, then. Daylight’s burning,” he said, replacing his cap.

“Probably should let them know the plan,” Alyssa said, nodding to the other three. They were far enough away that they had been incapable of hearing the exchange.

“I’ll take care of it,” Roman stated. “You need to get moving. We’ll be ready when you come out.”

“Alright.”

With that, Alyssa stood, then looked back at Carmen. She nodded at her wife before taking a deep breath and turning toward the station. She and Roman strode forward together, but he didn’t pass through the door. Instead, he knelt before it, holding his hands out and casting his spell. Meanwhile, Alyssa stepped into the lobby, holding her machete in one hand and the pistol in the other.

If everything went according to plan, she wouldn’t need either. Not inside the building, at least. Outside was a different story, and she didn’t want to think about the immediate future. It was attention she couldn’t spare.

So, she crept through the familiar lobby, passing the receptionist’s desk and into the office space. There, she saw ten desks, each sporting a computer monitor. Beyond was an interrogation room, a break room, and a couple of storage closets. On the other side stood the chief’s office.

Alyssa stepped softly, keeping her breathing as even as she could. It had been a long time since she’d hunted, but she hadn’t forgotten the lessons her father had taught her. Sure, Elijah had always been the more skilled outdoorsman, but Alyssa hadn’t lagged too far behind. So, she channeled those skills as she cleared the area, finding nothing.

Next, she checked the outer rooms, finding more of the same. Which was to say, nothing. In fact, Alyssa was starting to think that, perhaps, whatever had broken into the station had already abandoned it.

But she knew better.

Besides, there was still one level left to clear. The basement held the holding cells as well as the armory, which meant that there was plenty of space downstairs to hold any number of horrors.

So, after taking another deep breath, Alyssa approached the stairs. Opening the door, she poked her head inside.

And nearly gagged.

There, sprawled across the floor, was a half-eaten corpse that had once been one of her colleagues. By his skin tone, it was Jerome, one of the other deputies. Alyssa didn’t need to check for a pulse to know he was dead. Not only was he completely stationary, but he was missing a third of his torso. Nobody could live through that.

Still, after making certain that nothing was going to jump out and try to eat her, she knelt beside him and collected the magazines at his belt. Ammunition would soon grow scarce, and there was every chance that she would soon need it. After all, whatever had killed Jerome was probably still around.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Alyssa continued down the stairs. Notably, Jerome had clearly tried to climb to safety, as evidenced by trail of blood-soaked stairs. Alyssa ignored them, instead focusing on her surroundings.

Which was a good thing, because as she hit the staircase’s switchback, something launched itself at her. But it didn’t come from below. Instead, it descended from the low ceiling, spreading bat-like wings as it snapped at her with slavering jaws. With so much adrenaline coursing through her veins, she responded with incredible alacrity, slashing out with her machete.

The monster – and it could be nothing else – screeched as the blade bit deep into its furry body. But it still got its claws into her forearm. Alyssa screamed as she tried to dislodge it, banging the monster against the wall. Yet, despite her frantic efforts, it held fast. So, she jammed the pistol against its bulbous body, then squeezed the trigger.

The weapon discharged with an earsplitting and unmistakable crack, which was soon followed by another. And another after that. The monster went wild as she emptied the entire magazine into the creature. Blood and fur misted into the air, but it held on until the very end.

Finally, after she’d discharged every single round into monster, Alyssa banged it against the wall. Over and over until, at last, its screeches became burbling wheezes. Then, at last, it fell free.

Alyssa stared at it for a long moment, unsure of what she saw. The monster was bat-like, but with humanoid characteristics. Especially its face, which looked almost simian.

But she didn’t have time to study it, because the sound of a dozen flapping wings filled the air as more monsters ascended from below. Alyssa didn’t hesitate to turn and run. She’d gotten the creatures’ attention. Now, she just needed to lead them outside where, hopefully, her allies could finish them off.

That was easier said than done, though, largely because she had a flock of monkey-bats trying to kill her. Dashing up the stairs, she had to duck under one such monster, then lash out with her machete to knock another out of her way before she could get through the door. Once she’d made it through, she used Charge.

Instantly, her body responded.

Alyssa had run track in college, so she’d always been relatively fast. But the speed she achieved after using Charge was something else altogether. If she ran any less than thirty-five miles an hour, she would have been incredibly surprised. However, that speed came with a cost – chiefly, that she had difficulty changing direction. For a few steps, she was fine, but then she clipped one of the desks, which sent her spinning. With so much momentum, that spin took her into one of the walls, where she caromed into another desk. But she still kept moving forward, eventually stumbling into the lobby and through the door.

The bat-monkeys weren’t far behind.

Charge dissipated, and she tumbled to the ground. She tried to turn it into a roll, but her movements were graceless, and she ended up sprawled across the pavement of the parking lot. Behind her, the bat-monkeys screeched, the sound accompanied by the steady thwap of Roman’s bow.

Meanwhile, Alyssa heard Carmen let out an inarticulate yell, and when she finally righted herself, she saw the stout woman swinging her crowbar at the disoriented and slowed bat-monkeys. In the waning light, they looked like true monsters, largely because there was no way anything like them had ever existed on Earth.

But with Carmen’s incredible Strength and Roman’s steady aim, the flock of creatures soon fell.

Vaguely, Alyssa was aware of someone kneeling beside her. Trish reached out and used her Mend spell. Vitality flooded through Alyssa’s body as her wounds closed. Instantly, her mind snapped into focus, but it was unnecessary. The monsters were all dead.

Roman and Carmen rushed over, and from somewhere, Miguel appeared with a bottle of water.

Alyssa looked up and said, “That definitely didn’t go like I planned.”

“You think? God, you’re an idiot,” groused Carmen.

“Idiot is a bad word,” Miguel offered.

“I know, sweetie,” said Carmen, tousling his hair. “But sometimes, bad words are appropriate.”

“Is it clear?” Roman asked.

“I think so,” Alyssa answered, pushing herself to her feet. Despite the healing, she was still a little unsteady. “I saw Jerome. He didn’t make it.”

“Shit. He was a good man,” Roman stated. He sighed. “He won’t be the last, though. Let’s get inside and find something to block the door.”

And with that, the group grabbed their carts full of supplies and headed into the station. Hopefully, it would prove more secure for them than it had been for poor Jerome.

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