The City of Monsters

by Matthew McCollum

  Then her mind cleared, and she almost rolled her eyes. The same way you fought anything, obviously: Avoid the dangerous part.

  She dodged a second bite easily and punched it hard in the temple with her other rock-fist. It staggered, but didn't fall, and she hit it again. This time its skull cracked, and it hit the ground.

  She paused to repair her rock-fist with concrete from beneath her feet before moving on. There were about thirty screamers here, and she needed to finish off fifteen or more by herself.

  It wasn't hard. In fact, the hardest part was remembering that they were people, victims. She moved through them like a farmer scything wheat, the same moves working over and over again. They were too stupid to adapt to her tactics.

  As she fought, her mind drifted. She was used to physical exertion from soccer, and good at distancing herself from it. She had only taken a single semester of boxing, but even those laughable tricks worked on zombies.

  However, her mind wandered too far, and she stumbled a bit. The screamer she was fighting was quick to take advantage. She didn't have time to raise her rock-fists, so she mentally reached out to the ground under its feet. She didn't do much, just made the floor under its feet tremble, but it was enough to trip it and give her a chance to counterattack. I didn't waste the opportunity, and smashed its skull in.

  With a thought, she cracked her gloves, letting them crumble to the ground. She only had a few screamers left, and she needed more practice.

  The first one came from the left. She concentrated and brought a concrete fist up from the ground. It hit it in the stomach, doubling it over, and she wrapped it around the zombie like a snake, squeezing it with the sickening crunch of breaking ribs.

  That was most of her power. She could feel her reservoir replenishing, but it would take time. So she fled back the way she had come, across the splattered bodies of screamers, with another zombie close behind.

  She tripped it up, same as before, and delivered a skull-shattering kick as it tried to rise. She did get into AU on a soccer scholarship, after all.

  Another came, from the right. She tried to bring up a single needle of concrete, to kill it with the least amount of effort, but another fist came up instead. As before, she couldn't manipulate anything that finely.

  But it knocked the creature off balance, and she took advantage, jumping over the short pillar of stone she had created to give the zombie a great two-footed kick to the back. It was knocked to the ground and its screaming cut off for a moment, but it twisted around to try and bite me with that massive horse-mouth. She brought up a hand of stone to hold its head and stomped down hard on its skull.

  That was when she realized there was no more screaming from inside the store. Had they won?

  She searched around, eventually finding Akane and Derek back at the entrance she had sealed up. Derek was sitting on the counter, eyes watchful for a surprise, while Akane sat on the floor with her legs crossed and her eyes closed, silently meditating on the sword in her lap. Despite her jeans and t-shirt, she looked like nothing so much as an old samurai in a dojo.

  Her eyes opened as Ling approached, and she stood. Derek nodded in acknowledgment of her presence as well.

  “We did a good job in here,” he said, “though we didn't catch one alive. But there are more out there, and the 'sarians can only hold them for so long.” He slid off the counter and gestured towards the concrete wall. “Ling, if you would.”

  It was becoming easier for her to use her power, and she parted the artificial wall like a curtain. They walked into the street, Derek leading, ready to confront another horde of zombies.

  Chapter 13: SUAVIUM

  AKANE

  They finally headed back to their dorms about two hours later, after making absolutely sure there were no screamers left. Derek had eventually been forced to admit that they were indeed immune to infection after Ling got bitten. More like nibbled, really. That was great and all, but it meant they were the only ones who could safely clear out the zombies.

  Akane's speed was useful, to be sure, but the creatures weren't very smart, so it was hardly necessary. Even Laura and her little soldiers managed to have quite a bit of success. The problem was that there were just so many of them, all working towards a single purpose. At least rats and dumpster-dogs could be expected to fight each other as much as you.

  They had reached that annoying point where they were too tired to stay up and too awake to sleep, so they decided to just head back to their rooms and celebrate their first victory. They'd need to change clothes, though—not because of the blood and sweat, but because one of the infested stores had its fire sprinklers running, so they were all soaking wet. Clean, though. Small favors.

  “Laura, I've been meaning to ask,” Ling said. “What's with that ring? You engaged or something?”

  Laura's hand went to the engagement ring hanging on the short chain around her neck. She paused a moment before answering. “No... this belonged to my mother.” She didn't say more.

  Ling looked like she was going to question further, but Derek cut her off. “Her mother died shortly after she was born.”

  “Ah,” Ling said quietly as they entered their building. “Sorry I brought it up.”

  They entered the elevator in awkward silence, headed for the ninth floor. They didn't bother stopping at Laura's room. She wasn't wet, and hadn't done anything physically strenuous, so she didn't need a change of clothes.

  Ling and Akane went into their room and changed without comment. They were still a bit damp, but not so much that it soaked through. When they came out, Derek and Laura were still standing outside.

  “I can't find my keys,” he muttered. With his clothes soaked, he could barely get into the pockets. Eventually he managed it though, and unlocked his door, probably looking forward to getting out of his clothes.

  But when he went inside, he yelped in surprise, and the rest of them piled in to see what was wrong.

  Well, the good news was that they found Adam.

  The bad news was that he was in the middle of having sex with Lily.

  She shrieked and scrambled for the sheets, leaving Adam only barely covered. He had the good grace to look embarrassed, and mostly tried to shield Lily from view. Akane glanced at Derek to see how he was taking this, but he had already covered his eyes with one hand.

  He held out his other arm. “Akane. A change of clothes and a towel, please.”

  She hurried to obey, grabbing some jeans and a t-shirt from his closet, then draping it on his outstretched arm with a towel. He turned away without a word, heading for the bathroom. Akane assumed to get changed.

  Laura didn't seem all that rattled by the scene, though Akane did notice she kept her eyes away from the pair and set about collecting their clothes from the floor. It didn't take long, and once she handed them off she left the room, dragging Akane and Ling with her and closing the door behind them.

  They only had to wait a few minutes before Derek came back. By that time, judging by the sounds coming from the room, the two lovebirds had gotten changed. Derek nodded at Akane, and she knocked. The door opened quickly to show a disheveled—but clothed—Adam.

  “Right. Sorry about that. I guess I expected you to be gone longer.” He gestured for them to come in.

  Lily was dressed and sitting primly on the right bed. Ling and Akane took the left one, and Laura followed close behind. Derek sat at his desk, while Adam carefully slid next to Lily.

  “So it seems you two are getting along.” Laura's voice didn't hold any apparent sarcasm, but the deadpan expression on her face told another story. “Lily, I didn't know you had...” She paused, trying to find a polite word. “...relationships. I know dozens of people who have tried.”

  Lily blushed deeply. “Well, you see, I can't date people from the city because... I mean...” She looked at her feet. “Obviously outsiders are different...”

  “I like your tattoos,” Ling said, seemingly out of nowhere.

  Lily tur
ned completely scarlet, and the marks Ling had noted disappeared back into her skin. Akane had heard about that kind of thing before. Sometimes in the throes of... passion people could lose control of their AT tattoo toy, resulting in fascinating patterns appearing. She had never actually seen it, though.

  She had seen Lily with tattoos before, mostly on special occasions like that time she presided over the opening of a repaired street near Akane's mother's house. She usually used abstract tribal patterns, similar to what the demons had. Unlike the demons, hers never implied any allegiance to any clan or culture.

  “So what were you all doing out so early?” Adam asked in an obvious bid to change the subject. “Out at a club or something?”

  “Screamers,” Derek said. He wasn't mad about the two lovebirds, but he was pointedly ignoring it anyway. Derek... was not good with romance, so he just pretended it didn't exist. “About a hundred, north of the campus. Right outside the wall.”

  Adam swore vehemently. “I should have been there, but I was...” He glanced at Lily. “...busy. Everyone alright?”

  “We captured one,” Laura said. “Killed the rest. Ask MC for a full report later, but there's not much more to say.”

  Adam nodded, but Lily frowned.

  “Wait... does that mean you're the Paladins Artemis was talking about?”

  Akane winced. Oops.

  Adam looked like he was going to come up with something stupid, but Derek spoke first.

  “Yes, we are. I'm almost surprised you didn't know already. Doesn't MC normally tell you everything?”

  “Not for something like this,” Lily said. “She would have told me if I asked, but I didn't ask.”

  “Well, now that you do know, I'm going to have to ask you to keep that to yourself.”

  She mimed zipping her mouth shut. “My lips are sealed.” She grinned. “Although... I would like to see those specs that he mentioned on the news.” She looked at each of us in turn. “What can you guys do? Shoot fire?”

  “Derek can make shields,” Adam said. “Ling can control rock, Akane is a speedster, and Laura...”

  “Laura can detect lies,” Laura said. “Hardly impressive.”

  Lily frowned at Adam. “What about you?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing. No powers whatsoever.”

  She clicked her tongue. “In addition to being clay? That sucks.”

  Adam blinked. “Uh...”

  “Lutum informis,” Derek said. “Clay is the more common term.”

  “Don't worry about it,” Ling said happily. “Most people only have a couple cosmos. It's not like you were actually planning to join one of the cultures.”

  He frowned. “I was more worried about the buffs, actually.”

  “Ah...” Her face fell. “Right. Of course.” Then her smile was back, and she turned to Lily. “So how was he?”

  Adam blanched, and Laura choked, covering it up with a cough. Derek nearly jumped out of his seat. “Ling, that is hardly—”

  But Lily just shrugged. “Not bad.” But she grinned. “Really good considering he didn't have any practice.”

  Adam looked horrified. “You... I... you knew?”

  She shrugged.

  Ling leaned forward excitedly. “I need details.”

  “No, you don't,” Derek cut in before Lily could answer. “That's between Lily and Adam. Even—” He glared at Lily. “—even if one of them feels otherwise.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “You don't have to get so bent out of shape.”

  He frowned. “I'm just hoping to build up goodwill. Hopefully, this will keep you bunch from asking too many questions if you catch me in a similar situation.”

  Adam raised an eyebrow. “Virgin?”

  Derek shrugged. Akane knew it was true, of course, and she doubted he cared if anyone else did too.

  But Lily snorted. “Screw virgin, this moron hasn't so much as kissed a girl.”

  Akane blinked. “What?” She hadn't known that. Derek had gone on plenty of dates. That was actually why Akane knew he was still a virgin—she had been briefly worried he was acting like a playboy and had asked him about it.

  Lily smiled at Akane coyly. “Oh, you didn't know? Yeah, I heard it from the Princess of Killing Sparrow last year. Apparently when you two got separated, that's how he drove her off.”

  Akane blushed, remembering the event, but didn't say anything else. What could she say? This wasn't super important in the long run, but it still made her heart beat fast to think about—

  “Dibs!”

  Akane stared at Ling, who was grinning like a moron. “What do you mean, 'dibs?'”

  “Exactly what it sounds like. I call dibs on his first kiss.”

  “But...” Akane couldn't find the words. “You can't just...”

  Her grin widened. “Why not? He's the hero, and he doesn't have a love interest. That's a crime, I say, and one I will not allow to continue.”

  “But... you just met him yesterday!”

  Ling cocked her head quizzically. “So?”

  “So you can't call dibs on someone you just met!”

  “Girls...” Derek said with a sigh. “Be nice.” Akane didn't even have to look at him. She knew he wasn't taking this seriously.

  Well, she was.

  Ling held her hands to her chest. “I get dibs because it was love at first sight.”

  Akane gave her a suffering look. “No it wasn't.”

  “Well, maybe not quite, but he did save my life.”

  Akane knew from experience what kind of effect that could have. Ling seemed to be just screwing around, but she couldn't tell.

  “Girls, seriously,” Derek said in a frustrated tone. “Don't joke about this kind of thing.”

  Akane glanced at him. He really thought this was just a bad joke. Was he really that oblivious? After years of this sort of thing?

  Lily rubbed her forehead, between her horns. “Children, please, calm down and think for a moment. You're acting like kids who just hit puberty.”

  That was right. Lily was here. And so were Ling and Laura and Adam. Akane was having a heated discussion about kissing Derek in front of four other people.

  Her face felt so hot she was sure it had already caught fire.

  “Silence implies consent!” Ling crowed. She tried to jump around Akane, heading for Derek, but Akane knocked her back onto the bed.

  What else can I do? Akane thought. I can't actually...

  “Oh, screw this.”

  Akane looked just in time to see Laura grab Derek and shove her tongue down his throat.

  No one spoke for nearly a minute—unless you counted Derek's desperate attempts to pry Laura off his face as talking. Akane couldn't breathe.

  Finally, after an eternity, she let him go. He gasped for air, a truly shocked expression on his face. Laura just wiped her mouth and sat back down, as though she hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.

  “Anyone got mouthwash?” she asked nonchalantly. “I've got a weird taste in my mouth.”

  After a moment, Lily managed to speak. “There should be some in the bathroom.” Laura nodded and headed in that direction, closing the door behind her.

  The room was quiet again. Akane could hear early morning birds outside the window—which, she noticed, the lovers had opened at some point to air out the room. Some intelligent portion of Akane's brain thanked them for that.

  “Well,” Adam said, breaking the silence. “At least there will be no more fighting over that.”

  Ling immediately brightened. “Dibs on—”

  “NO.”

  She smirked at Akane. “I was just gonna—”

  Akane gripped her sword meaningfully.

  Ling pouted. “Fine.”

  A few more minutes of sullen silence.

  “She's taking a while,” Akane said, meaning Laura. Honestly, she just wanted to get out of the room. She stood to go.

  “Leave the sword,” Adam said. She glared at him, but he didn't back down. She took off the w
hole sword belt and laid it down on the bed. Like that would stop me if she really wanted Laura dead. Which she didn't.

  Mostly.

  She was just feeling stupider than normal. New people and hormones and... ugh.

  The girl's bathroom was all the way at the other end of the hall, which was annoying. Laura was there, just standing at the sink next to the mouthwash dispenser. These really were well-kept bathrooms—nothing was even broken. Who knew how long that would last when students actually came in, but still.

  “Laura?” Akane said gently. Something about her posture made her worried.

  She jumped. “Yes, what is it?”

  Akane kept her voice from quavering with an effort of will. She still wasn't used to her. “We were just wondering what was taking you so long.”

  “Ah, right.” She brushed back her hair and sighed. “I'm just tired. It's been a long day and it hasn't even started yet.”

  Akane smiled sadly. “That's the truth.”

  Laura walked past her, out of the bathroom. “Anyway, we should get back. We should give Adam a real briefing, and maybe work out some strategies.”

  Akane hadn't even thought about that. She nodded, then glanced back to the sink Laura had left and frowned.

  She shouldn't leave stuff lying around like that. It piled up, and soon the janitors couldn't deal with it. Akane took the liberty of throwing out the cup, still full of mouthwash, for her.

  Seriously, Akane thought. Why was it that the smart ones were always scatterbrained?

  Chapter 14: NECESSARIUS

  KELLY

  Drakela Sanguinas was known to most people as Kelly. Drakela wasn't her birth name, of course, but it was her legal name. It was certainly better than the name her father had given her. In a city where people reinvented themselves on a regular basis, such a boring name wouldn't draw attention.

  She sat in South Central's head Necessarius office, waiting for her boss to finish reading her report regarding her encounter with the screamers at AU. It was all for show, of course, since he had already read it.

  Her boss was a lupe, a wolf kemo. He had thick hair—not fur—covering his body and dexterous silver ears poking out of his graying hair. He looked about sixty but carried himself like a thirty-year-old, which probably put him at forty-five or so. The lupes respected age.