Rise of the Night Stalkers

by Kurtis Eckstein

  The message continued.

  Designated resource one, available for feeding.

  Designated resource two, available for feeding.

  Sub-handler 001, available for cannibalism.

  My head whipped around in shock, as I focused on the final flash of light illuminating on Harper’s forehead.

  Cannibalism?

  Holy shit!

  Had I really gained all my stats by eating humans and monsters?

  Holy SHIT!

  There had to be another option. Any other option! Couldn’t I just kill monsters or something? Why did I have to eat them? I really needed those points, but I wasn’t about to eat a person to get them! Even if I apparently may have already…

  Shit.

  There had to be a way out of this! Some alternative…

  Another message popped up.

  Sub-handler 001 structure build completed at (–) 000:00:00:00:01:31:000

  Sub-handler 001 resources ready for distribution.

  Initiating biometric condition display for Sub-handler 001…

  Activated.

  I stared in disbelief as another set of stats appeared before my eyes.

  SUB-HANDLER 001

  Physical Condition: Transitional, Fatigued (Ailment), Injured, Regenerating

  Psychological Condition: Traumatized, Unconscious

  Fatigue: 91%

  Mass: 26

  Strength: 32

  Endurance: 12

  Speed: 39

  Dexterity: 87

  Balance: 64

  Connection: 3

  Thermoacoustic: 1

  Attack: 288

  Defense: 386

  Determining available resources…

  Calculating numerical value…

  Allocated Resources (Transitional): 24

  Allocated Resources (Regeneration): 3

  Distributable Resources Available: 49

  Allocate available resources?

  Without another thought, I immediately started willing the available points into Connection, hoping that giving the little monster the ability to communicate might somehow help me. At first, I was elated to have plenty to get it up to twenty, not wanting to chance ten being insufficient, only to become instantly dismayed when I realized the points were dropping by 3 every time I increased Connection by 1!

  Dammit!

  In the end, I had just enough points to bring Connection up to 19, being both 1 point away from my goal, along with having only 1 point left that really only counted as a third for this stat.

  Initiating evolution of Sub-handler 001…

  Processing…

  Complete.

  Evolution? Shit, what in the hell did that mean? Was that what this transformation my body had undergone was? Evolution?

  I shook my head in disbelief, deciding to worry about the absurdity of all this later.

  I had no idea what to put the last point in, so I just left it for now, closing out the screen. However, I did notice that the kid’s fatigue was at 91%, something that appeared to have been induced by my bite, which likely meant she desperately needed sleep to recover.

  At least, I hoped that was all.

  I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of either of us needing to feed on human or monster flesh in order to reduce our fatigue – which was a very real possibility, even if it was obvious that I had inflicted the status effect myself.

  After all, if it required resources to regenerate…

  Groaning in annoyance at the situation, I decided it was time to leave.

  Lifting the little girl, I wrapped my tail around her torso, letting her otherwise hang limply as I reached out for the gun I had scooted away. In the process of moving, my tail squeezed something out of the bottom of the kid’s shirt, appearing like a chunk of her armored back had just sloughed off.

  It was honestly a little gross looking, the outside appearing like the familiar hard black carapace, while the inside boasted a nasty mess of slimy gray flesh. However, I paid it little attention, because I didn’t have the capacity to do anything about it either way.

  After all, it wasn’t like she was bleeding profusely from the unexpected wound, and I wasn’t a doctor even if she had been bleeding out.

  Thus, instead of concerning myself with it, I continued to pick up the gun and handed it to Savannah.

  For half a second, she just laid there, her eyes widening in shock as she focused on the weapon I was offering, as if her defeated mind was slowly registering that her fate might not be sealed just yet. Her focus then shifted to her younger sister wrapped up in my tail, and she finally looked up at me, holding my gaze for a long few moments.

  She didn’t speak though, instead lifting her upper body to stare at my red eyes hesitantly, before reaching out to accept the gun with trembling hands.

  The moment she took it, I went straight for the doorway and into the hall, shoving the old guy’s weapon back into the room with my foot, only to grab him roughly by the arm and flop his unconscious form onto my shoulder. I didn’t wait around for Savannah to follow, but I heard her pick up the second gun on her way out.

  Unlike earlier, she stayed a lot closer…much to my chagrin.

  Just like what had happened with the little boy, the scent of urine emanating from her provoked both disgust and a predatory desire to attack. And really, it wasn’t the smell itself that was enticing, but the associated fear that went with it.

  Knowing that my prey was afraid was highly appealing for a monster like myself.

  Addicting even.

  Ironically, the best thing Savannah could do to keep herself safe was to stop showing fear around me, which might make me lose control if she wasn’t careful.

  Too bad I couldn’t tell her that.

  Just as we got to the bottom of the stairs and stepped back out into the alleyway, the crackling of Randy’s radio on his hip filled my ear.

  “Romeo7, do you copy?”

  It sounded like the middle-aged man from before, John.

  I stopped in my tracks as the static vanished along with the voice. Glancing back, I saw Savannah staring at me again with wide eyes, the grip on her lowered gun so tight that her knuckles were white, the other weapon slung over her shoulder with a strap.

  “Romeo7, do you copy?” John repeated, sounding more urgent.

  I just continued to stare at the girl’s emerald gaze, prompting her to speak up in a squeaky voice. “C-Can I get that?” she asked. However, when I didn’t respond, or otherwise move, she slowly took a step closer, followed by another, making her way around my side until she was in front of me, staring up at my face a foot above hers.

  “Dammit Romeo7, do you copy?!”

  She carefully shouldered the other gun and began reaching up towards her grandfather’s waist with trembling fingers, looking like she was about to shit herself on top of everything else. And, of course, her shaking picked up even more as she fumbled around to get the radio off his belt – what should have been a simple task – only for her to suck in a sharp breath and back up half a dozen feet.

  “Sierra19 to Julius2, copy, over.”

  There was a lengthy pause before the static reappeared. “Status report, Sierra19. Are you safe? What about Romeo? Have you located your sister? My wife is about to lose her shit over this, and my boys are ready to peel out of here if you can tell us where you are. Over.”

  Savannah’s gaze focused past me toward the limp figure wrapped in my tail. She then held the button down to speak, seeming to ignore most of what the man said, her words coming out slowly.

  Strained.

  “My sister…she…she’s…a Night Stalker.”

  Chapter 4: Communication

  Once Savannah was done relaying the vague details of the situation, including explaining that her grandfather was unconscious after ‘falling down’ and hitting his head – neglecting to mention my involvement entirely – she clipped the radio to the lip of her jean shorts, and looked up at me nervously. It was obvious sh
e was afraid of provoking me, all of her anxious behavior a clear sign of walking on eggshells in my presence.

  After a few long moments of holding my gaze, she spoke up. “Are you going to hurt me?” she whispered.

  I looked up above her head into the street down the alleyway, uncertain of that answer myself. I wasn’t exactly planning on hurting anyone, but I also occasionally felt like I was on the verge of slipping into a mindless beast again, reacting on instinct.

  After all, biting her little sister’s neck had been an uncontrollable reflex when she attacked. An act of self-preservation even though I doubted she could have done much damage.

  Given the right provocation, or an alluring enough stimulus, I might react before my mind had a chance to reign the monster in.

  When I didn’t respond, she spoke up again, her voice still quiet, but less nervous. “Do you understand me?” she asked.

  My eyes flicked back towards her, before I rolled them.

  ‘Well, duh. Idiot.’

  Only a low growl came out instead.

  “But you can’t talk,” she commented, almost speaking to herself.

  I focused on her again and inclined my chin incrementally, enough for her to understand it was a nod.

  Nevertheless, her green eyes widened at my nonverbal response, before her brow furrowed. “What’s two plus two?” she unexpectedly demanded.

  I looked at her in shock, before I scoffed in annoyance, holding up my hand with my palm facing me, my thumb curled inward to show her four armored fingers. I almost wanted to flick her the bird while I was at it, but decided it would be pointless.

  What in the hell was this? A kindergarten test? Damn girl must be stupid.

  She abruptly took a step toward me. “Do you remember being human?” she whispered, her expression hopeful as her gaze flicked towards her little sister behind me.

  Unexpectedly, I felt like the idiot, as I inclined my chin with wide eyes, a new realization hitting me like a ton of bricks – sure it was one-sided, but we were communicating. She had gathered enough courage to try to understand me, and was asking me questions.

  It might take some effort, but if I could keep getting her to ask questions, then maybe I could get my answers after all! This might not have been a waste of time!

  “What was your name?” she continued, leaning towards me a little, before she abruptly straightened. “Oh wait. You can’t tell me.” She lowered her voice. “Dammit.” She then looked up at me again, an odd uncertainty in her eyes. “C-Can I give you a name?” she wondered.

  Shit! I wasn’t a puppy! I didn’t need a damn name as far as I was concerned, and I wasn’t about to be some stupid teenager’s pet!

  Resisting the urge to roll my eyes again in annoyance, I just shrugged instead, realizing it didn’t matter what she decided to call me. The sooner we could move past this part, the better.

  Her brow was furrowed now, her gaze having fallen to my feet. “C-Can I call you Brock?” she finally asked, looking up at me through her eyelashes.

  Ugh, what the hell?! What was she even naming me after? Broccoli or some shit?

  At first, I assumed I wouldn’t have an opinion, but damn! She sure as hell just gave me one.

  ‘HELL NO!’

  I shook my head, trying to look as pissed as possible at her distasteful choice.

  Unfortunately, my death glare made her afraid again, prompting her to reflexively take as step backwards. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just thought that one was manly, and…” her voice choked up as she gulped loudly, her pulse making the veins in her throat visibly throb.

  I sighed, taking a step back myself, trying to get her to calm down. At least she identified me as male now, instead of the ‘it’ she had used to referred to me earlier.

  “M-Maybe I’ll just list off a few names and let you choose?” she offered hesitantly.

  I inclined my chin.

  “B-Brandon, Bradley, Blake…” her voice trailed off again as I gave her another death glare.

  What in the hell was with all the B names? I mean, the last one wasn’t so bad, but damn girl – live a little. Try a different letter!

  “Umm, m-maybe Blaze or Mason or–”

  I jabbed my finger at her, prompting her to flinch. Yes, either of those would work just fine. She had still been a little stuck on the B names, giving me the urge to call her a B name, but at least she had mentioned something that was acceptable.

  “Mason?” she repeated.

  I shrugged. It didn’t matter which of the two. We just needed to move on.

  “Okay. Mason.” She then began examining me in my entirety, her eyes roaming my body like she was studying the intricacies of my structure to educate a class on it later. “I can see you being a Mason,” she commented thoughtfully, nodding her head in agreement with herself. Her brow then furrowed. “Oh, and I suppose I should introduce myself too. I’m Savannah. Do you have any idea how old you are? I’m nineteen, but I never got a chance to graduate after the Hell-Thorns appeared. You look like you could be the same age as Chris and Tony, who are twenty-five and twenty-three, but it’s hard to tell based on your face since…”

  She abruptly stopped talking when she realized she was annoying me again. But at the very least, I had learned something. Her scattered-brained comment about not graduating indicated that at least two or three months had passed since the apocalypse began, and it might have been up to one year, which would explain why I felt like I had lost so much time.

  She continued after a moment. “S-So, anyway…Mason…I wanted to thank you for not killing us earlier. A-And thanks for bringing Ethan back.” She interlaced her fingers in front of her waist, her gaze shifting behind me again, before she met my gaze with an unexpected desperation in her green eyes.

  Finally, she worked up the courage to get to the point of why she had decided to try to speak with me in the first place. “My sister is like you now, so would it be possible for you to help her? Could you stop her from becoming a monster? And maybe help her remember that she was once human?”

  I looked above her head again, shrugging in the process. Of course, I had no idea if I could do any of those things. I didn’t even know what caused it in the first place, never mind how I had managed to regain my sensibility.

  “Oh.” Savannah’s eyes tightened, her gaze downcast. “W-Well, I know it might be asking a lot, but maybe could you protect her? A lot of the smaller Night Stalkers don’t seem to last long – we see their dead bodies all the time…”

  Ugh, I didn’t need this in my life. I needed answers from them, not to become someone’s guardian or babysitter. Granted, her comment did indicate that they might not encounter my kind during the day at all, and of course they would stay holed up at night, which was good to know.

  But, at this point, it would probably be better to just leave, figure out how to raise my Connection stat, and then return when I could interrogate them properly, rather than keep up with these games.

  So, instead of continuing this pointless conversation, I decided that I was just going to drop them all back off at the hospital, little sister included, and let them figure it out.

  The girl wasn’t my problem. They could shoot her for all I cared, or keep her in a cage, or whatever they wanted to do. Doubtful that raising her Connection stat would help me, despite my illogical hope earlier, so I was done.

  I wasn’t going to deal with it.

  Thus, in a flash, I closed the gap between us, causing Savannah’s entire body to stiffen in terror as I strode past her towards the street, another fresh wave of piss assaulting my nose. It wasn’t as much as the first time, but my actions definitely made her become momentarily incontinent.

  Damn, maybe I underestimated the level of fear I could provoke. All my muscles tensed in response to the scent, and I hastened my pace, gritting my teeth while attempting to hold back the beast that wanted to prey on the weak and fearful.

  It took her a moment to follow after me, being frozen in place until
I disappeared around the corner onto the street. Of course, when she realized I could lose her fairly easily, she chased after me as if her life depended on it…

  Little did either of us realize that her life did depend on it.

  As she ran up behind me, a stimulation of my senses triggered an instinctual response that caused me to unravel my tail to drop the little girl, while I simultaneously allowed the old man to roll of my shoulder.

  In the blink of an eye, my bladed appendage shot through the air behind me, zipping at a hairline distance from Savannah’s arm as it buried itself into the abdomen of an unfamiliar fiend.

  The young woman blanched, her legs giving out as she stumbled away from my extended tail, only to scream in surprise when she saw what I had impaled.

  It almost looked like a massive pill-bug the size of a large dog, with a meaty gray underside normally protected by a hard, black, segmented shell. However, instead of insect legs, it had over twenty tentacles that spasmed and squirmed as the bizarre creature slowly died.

  Pulling my tail a little closer, I abruptly flung it out, my blade leaving its body as I sent it flying down the road onto the roof of a car. Its weight was obviously greater than I assumed, given its size, considering the top of the vehicle caved, the windows shattering, the entire frame sinking lower to the ground. It continued to squirm for a few more seconds before growing still.

  Savannah just stared at it in complete horror, before she slowly turned her head toward me.

  Locking eyes was all it took.

  She immediately jumped to her feet, and began rushing down the street with renewed vigor, passing me up as if I was now the one slowing her down. I collected the little gremlin and old human in my arms as I watched her walking ahead of me.