“Those would be her peataí,” Derek said. “More monsters will be coming.”
Everyone had their guns out now, even Laura. She glared at Derek.
“She's not going to be forgiving this time. What's up with her and clays?”
“Silver and gold, how should I know?” He hemmed in another dog with a barrier. Adam shot it twice while it was distracted. “Maybe she threw a dart at a wall to see what she would be obsessed with today.”
More monsters started coming, from all directions except to the left, down an alley. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the only direction they didn't need to go.
A lot of the monsters were various breeds of dog, but there were giant rats and even horribly misshapen humans scattered through as well. All of them were heavily modified, and they all had the solid black eyes of vampires.
They formed a defensive formation at the mouth of the alley. Right now, there were only a few dozen of the things, and careful shots killed the leaders as they crept forward. But more were coming with every minute. Adam had a feeling that they were waiting for enough before swarming them.
Wonderful.
Chapter 17: CANTOR
LAURA
The Princess's monsters never reached horde size, and they never swarmed. After ten minutes or so, they stopped showing up, and they killed the rest without difficulty. She must have gotten bored and decided to have her Hunt somewhere else. Or it was officially over because some pre-determined condition was met, or she got distracted because she saw a pretty shape in the sky.
Goddamned fey.
Laura made a mental note to explain everything about them to Adam later. At least he had stopped asking questions and focused on the screamers. Akane and Ling would of course know everything already, and the retinue likely knew more than Laura did, with a changeling among their number.
Derek gave the order to move out, and they traveled the last couple blocks in the same formation as before. It quickly became apparent that the screamers were migrating away from them slowly, and they had already been through this way. Most of the cars were on fire, and all the lower-level stores had their windows shattered. There were surprisingly few bodies, which made sense. If the disease could really spread through a song, there would be a lot more zombies than before.
What really worried Laura, more than an infection they couldn't protect against, was that the screamers seemed to have a purpose this time. Did that mean that whoever was behind this could actually control them directly?
She filed the thought away and ignored it. Something to worry about later.
For the time being, the song was the problem. She didn't know anything concrete, obviously, but they might be able to rig up some sort of headphones to filter it out with MC's help. But they definitely didn't have anything like that on hand. Hopefully, those of them with powers would still be immune to infection, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.
Eventually they caught up with the horde, staying about a hundred yards behind them—close enough to observe, but hopefully far enough so they didn't detect our presence.
“They're chasing a crowd,” Derek said quietly. Part of Laura wondered how she could hear him over the sound of the screaming still echoing in her brain. It was like it was a sixth sense, separate from hearing. It didn't interfere with her hearing any more than her sight did.
“We need more information before we do anything,” Laura said. She turned to the fel, Katherine. “Can you scout ahead?” She didn't mean it as an order, she honestly wasn't sure if she had the ability. But Katherine just nodded, slung her rifle over one shoulder, and started climbing up the side of the closest building.
A few minutes after she disappeared from view, Kelly got a text.
“Most of the crowd is safe with some Necessarians,” she said. “They've set up a barricade, but it won't last. There are other nests of survivors, but they're getting picked off quickly.”
“Powers?” Derek asked with a grunt.
Kelly didn't text anything; Laura assumed she had it on speaker. After a moment, her cell vibrated again, and she frowned.
“Fire,” she said. She flipped the phone shut. “Don't know if that's good or bad.”
“Range,” Akane whispered, before falling silent again. She was getting better, but this was obviously still far too many new people for her to feel comfortable with.
Ling nodded. “They probably have longer range than the biters. Which means...” She paused. “...ah. I'm not sure.”
“It means this won't be the turkey shoot it was last time,” Laura finished for her. “Depending on how smart they are, this may be more than we can handle. But the real problem is those singers the Princess mentioned. Do you see any?”
It took almost a minute for Kelly's phone to vibrate again. “'I see some that could be singing,'” Kelly relayed. “'But I can't tell for sure. They're just standing around, and the screamers are ignoring them. Should I advance?'”
“No,” Laura said quickly. Maybe too quickly. “We don't know enough. Hold position, but be prepared to take them out on my order.”
Derek frowned at her. “You're worried about the singers.”
Laura nodded, not afraid to admit it. “We don't have enough information. For all we know, the Princess was just babbling nonsense.”
“That's unlikely,” Jarasax said. “The fey are crazy, sure, but they're not actively delusional.” He shrugged. “It's probably some metaphor we don't understand.”
Well, he'd know. The Blood-Doused Hunters were changelings, escaped fey-slaves experimented on by their deranged captors. All changelings made it a point of pride to know more about the fey than anyone else alive.
“We can't just sit here and do nothing,” Derek said. “Kelly, take the retinue—and Adam—to another 'scraper. Somewhere you have a good vantage point but can't hear the singers. Set your cells to record, too, just in case.” He flipped out his phone and did the same. The rest of them followed suit. “I'm guessing the rest of us are immune, but we'll go in one by one, just in case. I'm on point. Everyone else, pattern Red.”
He headed off, and Akane waited a minute before following, ten yards behind. Ling shrugged and followed her.
Laura considered disobeying his implied order; she didn't owe him anything, and she might be more useful with the retinue, like Ling had said. But they were experienced soldiers who could take care of themselves. Laura had a feeling that these singers were going to be confusing enough if she saw them with her own eyes. If she tried to get a second-hand description, she'd never learn anything.
So she followed Ling, and heard the retinue splitting off to the right—away from the skyscraper Katherine had chosen. Laura resolutely focused on what was in front of her.
They dodged around more burning cars and eventually reached an impromptu roadblock made from a bunch of large trucks parked as close as possible. These were also abandoned, and also on fire. Clambering over the parts that weren't burning, they finally came face to face with the horde.
A hundred yards away, barely able to see them, that was one thing. Actually being in the thick of them... that was another entirely.
Their screams were deafening at this range; Laura clapped her hands over her ears, and even Derek had to resort to hand signals. After a moment, she began to get used to the massive background noise and lowered her hands.
There were more than last time; maybe a thousand, crowding around the intersection and crawling over wrecked cars like so many ants. They didn't pay any mind to the flames and threw themselves at the few redoubts left. They clearly had some form of heat resistance in addition to everything else.
Best as Laura could tell, there were four redoubts besides the main 'sarian bulwark directly in front of them and across the street. Some of the larger shops, mostly the ones without large windows to break through, periodically spat hails of gunfire at the approaching zombies. They responded with actual fire, grabbing it up from nearby cars and tossed it like snowballs.
“We'll have to split up,” Derek said. Saw that coming. “I'll take far left. Akane, you take far right. Ling, other left. Laura, other right.” He gave Laura a level stare. “Don't be afraid to fall back to the Necessarians.” He paused. “In fact, you should just do that. We'll take point C after the others.”
Laura was an intelligent woman. She knew he had the right idea. Splitting up their forces in the first place was a bad idea, but a necessary one. Sending her off to fight was virtually a death sentence, however. Her combat skills were sharply limited. She had minimal training and only a few minor physical buffs, so it was almost certain that every single one of the screamers was stronger than her.
But she didn't like being doubted, especially not by Derek Huntsman.
She didn't even bother saying anything, she just ran off, weaving through the horde and ignoring the cries of her companions.
Apparently the screamers were more surprised than her comrades; it took them a moment to react. But she noticed instantly when they did. Flame swept towards her from all directions, in the form of both fireballs and great sheets. She could taste the acrid smell of smoke, but she didn't choke or cough. She was running too fast to get caught up in it.
She just ran blindly ahead, dodging around the worst of it, heading for the old hardware store Derek had designated point C. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to get around the barricade, at least not with a few hundred screamers trying to roast her, but a refrigerator that was blocking the way suddenly moved aside, revealing an entrance. She dove inside, and heard the fridge shoved back into place. She leaned against it and slid to the floor, breathing heavily. The smoke smell wasn't as strong here, but it still leaked in.
“Honored Paladin, are you all right?”
She opened her eyes slowly to survey the survivors, about twenty in all, all armed. Most had pistols and other small arms, but a few of the bigger individuals were lugging around nailguns and the air compressors required to make them work. Probably weighed a hundred pounds each.
Most of them were baselines, but there were a few vampires, a demon or two, and a single ursa—the one who was talking to me.
He was a big melano, a panda kemo, and one of the first full anthros she'd seen up close, other than Katherine. They had only become feasible in the last few months or so, but this man moved in his giant body with the grace of long practice. He was one of the ones with the nailguns, the compressor slung across his shirtless and furry back. He was holding out his paw to her. She took it, careful to avoid the claws, and pulled herself to my feet.
“Thank you, Honored Hunter,” Laura said carefully, returning his politeness. Melanos had a reputation as diplomats, and she didn't want to offend him. She glanced around, frowning. “I thought this was ursa territory. Where are your packmates?”
He grunted. “Gone,” he said in a voice like crushed gravel. “Dead or screaming, I'm sure.” He gestured to the barricade. “They ran outside to fight the horde, claiming they wouldn't let zombies stomp over their neighborhood. Most of them were melee fighters though, and if what the news said is true, that means they'll just end up infecting themselves.”
“More than likely,” Laura said sadly. The ursas weren't a true gang, of course; Butler made sure those were all dead and buried, although the Rahabs were putting up a fight. But cultures and subcultures often formed... militias, for lack of a better word, and as long as they didn't break Necessarian law, they were allowed to do as they pleased. As far as Laura knew, the ursas still didn't have any true Animal King after the death of Saikyō, but in a time like this, any competent Hunter would organize a small band. Like a sergeant taking charge when there was no captain around.
“Have you seen—ah...” She paused. How do describe them? Something was tickling the back of her mind, distracting her from finding the words. The smell of smoke was getting stronger. She pushed it aside. “I haven't seen them myself, so I'm not sure how to ask.”
The melano raised an eyebrow. “The singers, you mean?”
Laura blinked, surprised, and nodded.
“Yes, we've seen them. And to answer your next question, yes, their song makes screamers.” He patted his belt, and for the first time she noticed a bulky pair of headphones—identical to the pairs every other survivor had. “It's hardly ideal, of course, but not being able to hear anything is better than turning into a zombie.”
“I agree completely,” Laura said. “I was trying to think of a way to get around that problem, but I didn't have time. Ah.” She paused as a thought occurred to her. “You did test it, right?”
He nodded. “Only way we could. Singer came in, and we survived.” He turned to one of the vampires. “Drake, go fetch another pair for the paladin. They should be in the storeroom.” The man in question sped off.
That was about when the barricade exploded.
It wasn't the refrigerator, thankfully, but the stack of pipes to Laura's left, thrown aside by a gout of roaring flame. She rolled to her right, but she couldn't see anything through the smoke and flame. She heard the melano cursing, and she heard gunfire and the sound of the nailguns, so she tried to stay low.
She got a good look as the smoke blew aside for a moment; the survivors were hunkered down behind a secondary barricade, headphones on. They popped up every couple seconds to fire a few shots, then dropped down before a fireball flew towards their heads.
The area they were shooting at was so choked with smoke and blowing ash she had no idea what was going on. But every once in a while flame would rip out of the concealment, either in wild sheets or controlled bolts. And of course there was still the screaming, but it was so loud it didn't help pin down the zombies' location in the slightest.
Laura was off to the side, out of immediate danger, but the screamers would notice her sooner or later. She needed a place to hide.
But there was an entire horde outside, pouring in through the breach. There was no way they would stop as long as the hole in the defenses was open.
There was nothing she could do. There wasn't anything she could use to plug the gap other than the fridge—which, even if she could move, was already sealing one hole. The only thing that might work was bringing the ceiling down, but she didn't have anything powerful enough to have a hope in that direction.
Unless...
It all depended on whether this building had a wood frame or not. Most structures in Domina didn't, for about a thousand reasons, but some of the older ones did, especially this close to the old Eden site. The only question was whether this place just looked old or if it actually was.
Laura started kicking at one of the walls with the heel of her foot, trying to break through. After a moment, her suspicions were confirmed: Her foot broke through the sheetrock, and rooting around inside she saw the wooden frame the store was built from.
Perfect.
Technically, at this point, she just needed to wait for the screamers to finish the job for her. But every second she wasted increased the chances of more survivors dying, both here and at the other redoubts. So she dodged past the second barricade, diving deeper into the store.
She almost barreled into the young vampire the melano had sent for her headphones.
“Honored Paladin!” he exclaimed, clearly surprised. He fumbled for the headphones. “I'm sorry I took so long—”
“No time for that! We're under attack!”
His jaw dropped, but he recovered quickly, moving to put his headphones on at the same time he reached for his pistol. Good lad, but Laura stopped him.
“I have a plan,” she said. “How well do you know the store?”
“Pretty good,” he said slowly. “I started working here about a month ago.”
She nodded. “Good. Where are the hoses? If you sell squirt guns, that would be better.”
“Garden supplies, aisle—”
“Show me.”
He ran off, farther from the front, and Laura followed closely behind. When it came right down to it, she k
new this was a stupid plan, but weren't they all?
Luck was with them; the store sold squirt guns after all. There weren't many left—they were heading into winter—but she grabbed a couple of the bigger ones, and the drake did the same.
“Now, where's your gasoline?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Gasoline! Lighter fluid! Something liquid and flammable!”
He sped off towards the camping department, and they grabbed a couple cans of lighter fluid. They busted them open—they had locks to keep people from siphoning them in the store, and they didn't have time to find any keys—and filled the squirt guns.
“Okay, back to the front.” Laura ran off, lugging the suddenly much heavier guns, and the vampire followed half a pace behind. He stopped for a moment, but she didn't have time to turn, and he caught up anyway.
As expected, the fight was still raging, although now the acrid tinge of burned flesh was in the air. The defenders looked relatively unharmed, so the only other explanation was that the screamers lost their fireproofing upon death. Interesting.
But she didn't have time to ponder; the smoke cloud was bigger than before, and the fire was coming more and more often. She took aim above the opening and unleashed a stream of lighter fluid at it.
As expected, the bigger guns did have more pressure; it reached its target and quickly caught on fire. It petered out at the end, but she just tossed that near-empty gun into the still-unseen knot of screamers and used up her second gun.
She tossed that one away when it was empty as well, and turned to grab another gun from the vampire. He had put on his headphones, and he handed her the gun without question. She nodded, and they both fired against the same spot.
The roof—at least the part above the entrance the screamers had created—was unquestionably on fire now, and Laura waved for the vampire to fall back to the barricade. She searched around for a fire extinguisher and found it by the cash register before retreating back to the other defenders. It wouldn't do to survive a zombie horde and then die because she lit the roof on fire.
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