The City of Monsters

by Matthew McCollum

  Emily was asleep on the couch when they came into the lobby. The temporary sign next to the office said the doors would lock at eight, but they had our keycards anyway, so it didn't matter. They all piled into the elevator and tried to ignore the smell of each others' sweat.

  “I'm on floor six,” Laura said. Derek tapped the button, as well as the one for floor nine.

  “Don't tell Lizzy about this,” Derek said. “I don't—”

  She glared at him with what seemed like genuine hatred. What was the big deal? This was only the second time he had brought it up.

  “I know, Derek. And it'll be fine. I want to keep her out just as much as you do.” The elevator doors opened, and she walked out. “See you tomorrow. Unless there's a screamer before then.”

  “Ugh, don't remind us,” Derek said as the doors closed. The elevator began to rise again.

  “Who's this Lizzy I keep hearing about?” Adam asked. “Laura's roommate?”

  The doors opened again, and they all piled out. Ling glanced at Derek and Adam oddly. She didn't seem to expect them to be on the same floor.

  “Yeah, and a childhood friend of both of us.” Derek smiled fondly. “You'll like her. She's such a sweetheart.” He unlocked their room and turned on the light. He also noticed a box sitting outside our door, just out of the walkway. Probably the guns from Necessarius.

  “Wait, that's your room?” Ling demanded.

  Derek blinked. “Oh, you didn't know? Yes, Akane requested the room across from me. MC was kind enough to arrange it.”

  Adam frowned in confusion. “But... didn't you move rooms?”

  “Yeah, and MC moved her as well. I guess Ling's roommate didn't have a problem switching.” Derek shrugged. “It's no big deal.” He turned to Ling and Akane. “We'll see you girls later.” He went into the room. Adam followed and shut the door behind him. Derek set about getting ready for a shower.

  “So about Akane...”

  “She's another old childhood friend,” Derek said. He wrapped a towel around his waist and used it cover himself as he stripped off his dirty clothes and threw them in the hamper in his closet. “Moved into the district right when Laura left. She's very shy, though, which is probably why MC was so accommodating. She needs a support system.”

  “And you're willing to be that... support system?”

  Derek blinked and paused in looking for his shower supplies. “Well... yeah. I'm her friend.” Had he missed that part? “Anyway, don't forget that box.” He left for the bathroom, still wrapped in his towel.

  The bathrooms were communal, and the men's was just further down the hall. Derek was lucky—women's was all the way on the other side, so Akane and Ling were going to have some trouble.

  It was also surprisingly clean. He guessed no one had really used it yet. It would get worse quickly. Public bathrooms always did. Better enjoy it while it lasted. He chose his stall and got ready for a nice long shower.

  Chapter 10: AMARE

  ADAM

  As Derek left, Adam brought the box inside. It was pretty big, about the size of a suitcase, and made of some solid material he couldn't identify. As Butler had promised, there was a simple number lock on the front.

  Before closing my door, he glanced across the way at room 0910. Their door was closed. The girls were probably going to take showers soon as well. But seriously... what was going on with Akane and Derek? He said they were just friends, but something didn't add up.

  Adam shook his head. It wasn't important right now. Instead of thinking about it, he shut the door behind him and put the box on the bed.

  It opened at the code—14113—and he heard a few extra locks click open on the inside. He lifted the top to see four guns nestled in foam packaging and tied down with Velcro straps on both the top and bottom of the case: A pistol, a shotgun, some sort of submachine gun, and a rifle.

  He pulled out the pistol and saw a folded piece of white paper underneath it. His first thought was that it was some sort of coded message from one of the gang lord's harassed lackeys.

  It wasn't. It was just an instruction manual. It said that the gun was a Telum brand Sica model, whatever that meant, with a twelve round magazine. It was simple, black, and modern. Clearly a no-nonsense weapon, if a little small.

  The rest was mostly simple step-by-step diagrams on reloading and proper safety. Derek and Laura had already shown him most of that earlier. They claimed to be not very good with guns, but they knew the basics well enough. He put the pistol back carefully.

  The others were about the same. The rifle was an Olympian mark 3 Athena with a moderate scope. It didn't bother with a fancy wood stock or anything like that, it was all just composite, with a nice big rubber shock absorber where it rested against his shoulder.

  The shotgun was impressive, even to someone like Adam who knew nothing about guns. It was a massive St. George 6-gauge, which would make anyone take notice. He thought higher numbers were bigger, but apparently it was the other way around for shotguns. The instructions went into more detail about how that all worked, but he skipped that to read the part about loading the thing.

  He really didn't know what make of the submachine gun. It was a Telum Caedes fully automatic with a clip about a foot long. He couldn't really see himself needing that much firepower, but at least it shared ammo with the Sica.

  Speaking of which, there didn't seem to be any ammo included. Probably to make sure that if the case was stolen there wouldn't be a janitor running around shooting people. Fair enough. Adam flipped open his phone and hit the MC button.

  “Yes, Mister Anders?” the program answered smoothly. “What may I help you with?”

  “I need ammo for the guns Butler sent me,” he said. “How do I get some?”

  “I will inform Mister Butler of your situation. Can you tell me exactly what you need? I will then pass it along to Mister Butler, and he can decide whether he can help you.”

  “Uh...” A couple hours using the tour program, and he was already used to MC's programs being infallibly helpful. “He sent me the guns, so I'd assume he'd be fine with sending me the bullets.”

  “I'm sorry,” the program said with generic sweetness. “This program is not as widely used as most others, so it does not receive as much feedback, and is not as intelligent. Would you like me to transfer you to the real MC?”

  “No... no that's not necessary. Just pass along the message to Butler that I need ammo for the guns he sent me—that's enough for a Sica, Caedes, Athena, and a Saint George. Got that?”

  “Yes, and I will give you Mister Butler's reply as soon as possible. Will that be all?”

  “Yes. Thank you.” He hung up without another word, and sighed.

  This was a weird city. But it was his home now, and what was more he was apparently in charge of protecting it. For some reason, whenever his thoughts strayed in that direction, rather than feeling apprehensive or proud, he just remembered shooting the screamer in the chest. It had felt...

  Good.

  He needed air. He scribbled a note on the whiteboard on our door—every dorm room had one—telling Derek he was out, locked the door behind himself, and headed downstairs. He took the actual stairs. If he was going to be fighting super-powered zombies, he needed to do at least a little exercise.

  The RA... Emily, right? Was still asleep on the couch. He walked past her into the cold night.

  And it was cold. He had a long-sleeved shirt on, but he was still a bit chilly. He just grimaced. He'd deal with it. Instead of standing there shivering, he headed to one of the nearby cafes MC had mentioned on her tour. It was only a little ways outside of campus. As expected, there were just as many people on the street this late at night, if not more. He supposed that when you could buy nightvision, that happened.

  The cafe itself was an excellent example. The outdoor area was separated by a wall of black cloth, anchored to the ground and reaching up about twenty feet. On one side, it was completely dark, but still filled with customers. On
the other side, the one closer to the dorms, there were red lights on each table for those without the ability to see in the dark. Adam took a seat at one of the empty tables.

  “Oh—Adam? Is that you?”

  “Who the—Lily?”

  He wasn't expecting to see her again, but there she was, dressed in a waitress smock and holding a pad, likely for taking orders. She looked cute as a button, though he was still having trouble getting used to the toys. Her eyes were glowing a very soft red, and her tail was thrashing about dangerously. He was sure it indicated her mood, but hell if I knew what it meant.

  “It's great to see you again!” She seemed genuinely happy, but it was hard to tell. “I thought I scared you away earlier.”

  Adam smiled. “Well, a little, I'll admit. What are you doing here?”

  She waved her hand airily. “Oh, you know, just more work. But I'd love to hang out with you a little.”

  He blinked. “Really? Why?”

  She shrugged. “Outsiders are rare in the city, and they usually don't last long. I just want to talk to you a bit.”

  “O-okay.”

  “I'll be off in about ten minutes—can you wait that long?”

  He managed to smile. “Yeah, of course, I'll be right here.”

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “Ah... just a coffee, black.” She tapped it into her pad and spun away.

  By the time Adam finished his drink and paid, Lily's shift was over. She walked up just as he was leaving the register, her smock under her one arm, and slipped her other arm into the crook of his elbow. “C'mon, walk with me.”

  They headed away from the dorms, deeper into the night. She let the silence hang for a few minutes as she leaned against his shoulder. It was a nice feeling. Up until now, his interactions with women had been pretty much limited to his mother, his aunt, his little cousin, and the chief of security. This was something new.

  Eventually, once they were out of sight of the cafe, she did speak. “Have you been settling in all right?”

  “Ah...” What was he supposed to say? That he was now involved in fighting super-powered zombies? He had a feeling that even for this city, that would be a bit out there. “I guess I'm fitting in. Derek's helping with that.”

  “Oh, yeah, he's a great guy. Just be careful around the girls.”

  “...what girls?”

  “Any girls. Haven't you noticed? They're all in love with him.”

  “I...” No, he hadn't really noticed.

  She sighed. “He has this hero complex. I find it annoying, but that's because I can take care of myself. He seriously rescues like, three people a day. Plus he's kinda hot. Throw those two together and you see where it leads.”

  “Yeah, he saved me from a truck earlier today.”

  Adam thought she rolled her eyes, but it was hard to tell in the dark. “See what I mean? I love him for that kind of thing, I really do, but I just find the fact that he treats everyone like that annoying.”

  He thought for a moment. “Is that what happened with Akane? She seems...”

  She shrugged. “I'm not sure. Something happened when she first moved to the district, something involving a girl's bathroom. I dunno, I wasn't there. But she's followed him around like a puppy ever since. Poor girl.”

  “So I guess they're dating. If you can call an unbalanced relationship dating.”

  “No, it's not that. They're not dating, they're...” She sighed. “...complicated. And it's not my place to say—ask Derek about that. But their actual relationship is weirdly balanced.” She shook her head. “You'll understand once you ask him. But no, I mean how she's totally in love with him and he never notices.”

  Adam raised an eyebrow. “Really? I mean, even I kinda saw that, and I saw them together for like, two hours.”

  “Yeah, he's a moron. He's completely in love with this other girl, Elizabeth Greene. Completely blind to all else. Don't know what he sees in her.”

  “Elizabeth... Lizzy? Laura's roommate?”

  She looked up at him, surprised. “Oh, I didn't know they were rooming together. But that makes sense, the three of them were childhood friends before Laura moved away.”

  “Derek said she's sweet, but he didn't mention—”

  Adam felt Lily shrug again. “He keeps things close to the vest. And she is sweet, and cute, but he has his pick of the crop. I just don't understand why he chose her.”

  “So they're dating.”

  “No. I think she might be as oblivious as he is. And I'm not ruling out the possibility that she's gay.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “But most of the girls get over him pretty quickly, and just ogle him from a distance.” She shook her head sadly. “Not Akane.”

  “Hm. And the sword is... normal?”

  “Well, she's in kendo, if that's what you mean.”

  “Well, most kendo doesn't let you use real swords.”

  Lily shrugged again. “Domina is different. There's a half-decent chance we'll be attacked by a crazed ghoul right now. Pretty much everyone is armed.”

  Adam thought about it. He couldn't really refute the logic of that. He kinda wished he had brought a gun, for intimidation if nothing else. “Are you? Armed, that is?”

  “No.” She didn't elaborate.

  Adam stayed silent for a few minutes longer. They passed through a colony of vampires who all nodded at them as they passed. He didn't know if they were just being polite or if they knew Lily.

  After they got through without incident, she guided him over to a shop that sold TVs.

  “What's over here?” Adam asked.

  “I want to check the news real quick. My sister texted me before I got off work, said something's up.”

  As expected, there were a number of televisions on and tuned to the news. Oddly, though the shop had two sets of windows, the TVs on the right were off. Actually, at second glance, they were on. Adam could hear sound coming from them.

  “Is something wrong with those?”

  Lily glanced over. “Oh, no, those are the vamp TVs. They use different light so that nighteyes can see them. Normal ones will blind them at night. Now shush. I think this is it.”

  The TV switched to some news station. The anchorwoman—who didn't have any obvious cosmos—began to speak. “Welcome everyone, for this special report. I'm Eliza Cassan, and with me is Artemis Butler.”

  Adam couldn't believe his eyes. It was the gang lord he had met with not four hours ago, sitting comfortably in a leather chair, ready to be interviewed. From the way the others were talking, Adam had assumed the entire city knew he was the Big Boss of the Necessarians.

  Butler wasn't as impressive on TV, he noted. His gravitas and force of presence didn't translate well onto the screen. Instead of looking like an unmovable mountain, he just looked like a fat albino. But he was clearly aware of this, and worked to compensate. He held himself straighter, sitting more like a politician than a gang lord. In person, he knew his willpower would be apparent. On TV, he had to cheat.

  The newscaster smiled at Butler warmly. “Sir, you requested to make this announcement personally with little warning. I think you will forgive me for skipping the pleasantries. What, exactly, is wrong?”

  He frowned, clearly considering his words carefully. “We have an interesting situation, Miss Cassan, one that I truly believe we can handle, but not one the public should be kept in the dark about.

  “This morning, a peacekeeper patrol heard a man screaming in an alley. They went to investigate, and found the man violent and aggressive. He did not respond to any attempts to communicate, but showed some animalistic cunning.

  “When Officer Red Matthews tried to approach the man, he was immediately attacked and bitten on the neck. The man then abandoned Matthews and attacked the rest of the patrol with what they described as 'bolts of lightning emitted from the palm of his hands.'”

  “Wait one second,” the anchorwoman interrupted. “This... creature had superpowers?” Ca
ssan was a professional—she looked shocked, but she kept her composure and asked the important questions.

  “Yes,” Butler said gravely. “It has been confirmed from multiple sources. But please, be patient. There is more.

  “The creature was shot in the chest, and died shortly later. However, Officer Matthews succumbed to a viral infection within moments, devolving into a similar state as the creature that bit him. He immediately tried to attack his patrol with the same lightning, but Officer John Romero shot him at close range, killing him. Unfortunately, some of Matthews' blood splashed on him, turning him as well. The rest of the patrol were able to deal with him without further casualties.

  “We were hoping these screamers—as we've taken to calling them—were an isolated case, but that quickly turned out to be overly optimistic. Less than four hours ago, another screamer was discovered. This one had fire powers, which leads us to believe it is another strain. It was dispatched quickly, however, which leads me to the good news.

  “These screamers are not the only ones with powers. We have managed to recruit a small number of people who manifested similar abilities, and have employed them to hunt down these screamers. MC has dubbed these people 'Paladins,' which I think sums them up rather well. I am keeping their names off the air, at their request.”

  Adam didn't think they'd actually specifically requested that, but it was nice of him to make the effort.

  “Now, as I said before, these creatures turn their victims very quickly, so we do not have to worry about an epidemic as long as everyone remains calm and in control. On that note, I do not believe I stressed enough the source of their name. These creatures are compelled to scream, an unearthly, emotionless sound that is impossible to describe. I mean it when I say you will know it when you hear it. If you hear this and cannot locate the source, call MC, and we will have either the Paladins or a peacekeeper patrol at your location quickly. If you can locate the source, back away from the screamer very carefully, and do not call MC until you are out of sight. These things are in many ways animals, and we hope we may be able to cure them.”

  The anchorwoman was nearly dumbfounded. Of course, you didn't get a job like that by becoming tongue-tied. “That... is quite a lot to take in, Mister Butler.”