The City of Monsters

by Matthew McCollum

  Turning your back on a warrior was an insult. It was saying “You're not worth my time. I have better things to do.”

  Derek was out of the square by the time the two Nobles finally gathered their wits. He heard Halifax screech something, and Cinder ordering his men to kill the Paladins. But more importantly, he heard the Nosferatu under their command following him. Not chasing him. Following him, at the same slow pace he was taking.

  Walking wasn't the best of ideas, but he knew the way back, and without having to worry about ambushes, they could take a shorter path. All in all, a trip that took twenty minutes out took less than five back.

  Once they reached the redoubt, Derek picked up the pace. The lights were indeed smashed, and the barricade torn aside. Vampires were everywhere, attacking everything in sight. The vampires weren't the problem. The screamers were.

  In the close quarters of the temporary fortress, they infected faster than he could keep track. He couldn't see them transforming like the general had claimed, but he knew better than to dismiss his words as idle fantasy.

  After taking a breath to steel himself, Derek ordered the Nosferatu to act as support, while he led Akane and Ling directly into the screaming mob.

  Screamers weren't smart, so they were easier to fight than the vampires. Simple tricks worked on them every time, and they never learned. Akane's sword killed quickly, and Ling wasn't skilled enough with her concrete gloves to keep her targets alive, but Derek tried to simply knock the zombies unconscious as much as possible. A cure could still be in the future.

  Eventually, they managed to find Adam and the retinue, on the far side of the redoubt, next to the van. The general and a thin man in uniform were keeping the mob at bay with their pistols. The noise was scaring the crowd of zombies more than the bullets were actually damaging them. Alex was like a beacon, beams of light springing from his hands and blinding anything that got too close.

  “Where's Laura?” Derek asked as he jogged out of the fire zone. Adam just jerked his head over at the front of the van. There were two people there, wrestling on the ground. With a start, Derek realized it was Laura and a screamer. She was trying to keep its thrashing under control, but was having little luck.

  Of course. She was the only one immune, so she had to do it, despite her lack of interest in anything physical. But why didn't they just kill it? It would be easier all around. Especially since the screamer was a fel. The cat kemos were master escape artists, able to—

  Derek blinked.

  A fel? In Nosferatu territory?

  And where was Kat?

  “Oh no,” he whispered.

  The fel screamer Laura was wrestling with was indeed Kat. It was the strangest thing—her mouth was open, and Derek could hear her screaming in his mind, though it was difficult to pick out in the midst of all the others. But no sound escaped her furry lips. She really was mute.

  His mouth went into a firm line. He looked back the way they had come. Good, Halifax and Cinder were there. They had followed grudgingly, but they had followed. He noted their location, then turned to Alex.

  “Daybreak,” he ordered.

  Alex nearly jumped out of his boots, the night vision goggles on his face bouncing. “But won't that incapacitate our own?”

  “No time. Daybreak, NOW.”

  He ripped off the goggles, stepped into the empty area between us and the screaming mob, and...

  Day broke.

  It was like dawn rising, not ten feet away. The angel's skin shone like every light on Earth at once, and everything within a hundred feet cast deep, dark shadows away from him. Derek was completely blinded, even though he had his eyes closed, but he was expecting it. Most of the Necessarians had protective goggles, so they weren't hurt that badly.

  The Nosferatu and the screamers were not so lucky.

  People thought that nighteyes just gave you an annoying light sensitivity to go with the super-enhanced nightvision. That was a vast understatement. Bright light didn't just blind vampires, it was physically painful for them. Someone once told Derek that this was like punching a vampire in the brain through the eyes. Seeing the result, he didn't think it was hyperbole.

  Nearly every single screamer fell to the ground, dazed as if they had been kicked in the head. Many of the Nosferatu actually fell unconscious, screaming in pain.

  Halifax and Cinder stayed standing, as Derek expected, but they snarled and screeched in fury. He could only barely make out shapes, but he remembered their positions, and marched over to them. Then he kicked Halifax's legs out from under him and pinned him to the ground. His stomach throbbed and he was getting dizzy from blood loss, but he ignored it. He could last a few more minutes.

  “Your stupid fighting cost me a comrade, you honorless bloodsoaked bastard.” Derek had liked Kat. He hadn't known her very well, but she was smart and capable. “You are going to help me round up these screamers, and if you are very lucky I won't shoot you in the face when this is over.”

  He turned to Cinder and grabbed his shoulder, using that to make sure he was facing the right direction, then kneed him in the balls. He doubled over in pain and started to throw up. The combined effect was just too much for him.

  “That goes for you too.” He headed back.

  He shaded his eyes as he approached Alex. He still couldn't see, but hopefully that would prevent permanent damage. He didn't have time to get his eyes fixed these days. “How much longer can you keep this up?”

  “A minute. Probably less.” That was the reason Derek hadn't just told him to do this from the start. Simple beams of light and subtle glowing was easy, but a full daybreak couldn't be done very often. “And the screamers are starting to recover.”

  What most people forgot about dayeyes was that they worked perfectly in the light. Even this kind of light. Apparently a popular pastime among angels was to just stare directly at the sun. They said it was very pretty when it wasn't blinding. To Alex, this looked like normal daylight with fewer shadows. He could easily keep an eye on the screamers' condition.

  Derek had expected them to recover, but the light would be a massive advantage while it lasted. Once it faded, the battle would depend largely on who re-adjusted to the dark first, Necessarius or the screamers.

  Derek was betting on the screamers.

  “Laura, how's Kat?”

  “Gone,” she said. “She managed to get free before the daybreak hit.”

  Derek cursed. “Silver and gold. Akane, find her, alive if at all possible. Everyone else, we don't have time to be nice. Start killing any conscious screamers you find.” It wrenched at him to stoop to such a level, but it was their only choice. Kill a few to save the rest.

  He heard Adam's incredulous voice. “What, blind?”

  “That won't be necessary,” a new voice said. Derek turned to see a man, standing in the shadow of the van.

  No, not a man. A tall angel, of undetermined gender. So almost certainly a full daybreaker. He couldn't tell what Name he was from—his tattoos were hard to read in the strange light of Alex's dawn.

  “My name is Adele Lucifer. Miss Medina called us, informed us of the situation.”

  Well, that was Laura for you. Wait... “Us?”

  “Yes.” He gestured behind him, and Derek was barely able to make out a fleet of vans bearing the Necessarius red-on-black band disgorging an army of doctors and orderlies, led by a few dozen angels. He had never seen so many in one place before, let alone wearing 'sarian colors.

  “Your Gabriel can stop now,” the Lucifer said, as another angel started a daybreak. “We can handle it from here. Just bring us unconscious screamers, and we can do the rest.”

  “Oh good,” Derek whispered, and collapsed.

  It had been an interesting hour.

  Chapter 32: FRAGOR

  LING

  Ling saw Derek fall through half-blind eyes, but she wasn't close enough to catch him. Akane was still haring off after Kat, so she wasn't much help either. Ling almost tried to cushi
on his fall with her ability, before realizing that would be worse than useless. A stone pillow would just give him a concussion.

  She rushed forward to check on him, and after a moment's blind searching was relieved to find a pulse.

  “He alive?” Laura asked from her ear, making her jump.

  “Y-yeah. He's gonna be sore as hell, though, and probably has a concussion.” Ling frowned as she realized her sight was clearing. “Wait—is the daybreak fading?”

  “Yes. The Lucifer is smart; daybreaks are only effective if they're sudden. Even nighteyes can adjust eventually. We'll do another in a few minutes. I'll text you a warning.” She glanced around. “Get Derek to the medics, then work on separating the ferrets from the screamers.” She ran off before Ling could ask for more detail—or remind her that she technically couldn't give her orders—but it quickly became apparent anyway.

  Now that she could see a little bit better under the light of the moon, it became clear that the Nosferatu were indeed still fighting each other almost more than the screamers. Morons. Seriously, was she the only one who ever saw a zombie movie?

  On the other hand, Derek seemed to have had at least some effect. It was only a minority that were refusing to play nice. The rest seemed more than willing to cooperate with Necessarius against the infected and their erstwhile kin.

  Of course, the 'sarians couldn't really tell anyone apart, so they were just shooting blindly. Hence the need to separate the screamers, so they had a better idea of who to fight. Not to mention the ever-present threat of infection.

  Luckily, Ling managed to find a medic in seconds, and he carried off Derek, which left her with one less thing to worry about. Now on to the task at hand.

  Even with her reservoir at full, she wasn't sure she could get a good wall up that would actually block the bats at all. They could fly. Only a little, but—

  She smiled. Only a little.

  They could only shift into bat form for a couple seconds. That was barely enough time to fly any real distance. The current wall the 'sarians had up was doing a pretty good job of holding them back—they just needed another one.

  A ten-foot high wall should be more than enough, but it would have to reach across the entire street. She was getting better, but that was definitely beyond her. And she couldn't exactly just bring it up in sections.

  Actually, that sounded like the best idea. She'd have to be careful, and her reservoir would take a few minutes to recharge each time, but...

  No. Looking closer, it was impossible. If she was lucky, she'd be able to make a wall five feet wide and ten tall each time. The street was maybe fifty feet wide. It would take an hour or more to make the wall, and that was assuming nothing went wrong. She needed a new plan.

  Ling glanced around, looking for something she could use, but she could barely see. Between the dim glow of the moon and the beams of light the angels were casting around, it was too chaotic to make anything out. She could see the horde, and she could see the buildings flanking the street, but that was about it.

  She needed a new plan. What would Laura do?

  Something smart. She'd...

  Ling had no idea what she'd do. Quote Sun Tzu and outmaneuver the enemy, probably. But that wasn't exactly Ling's strong suit. All she could do was break things and quote entire episodes of anime from memory. Only the better episodes, the ones she had watched like fifty times, but still.

  That might be the answer right there. There were characters with powers like hers in plenty of shows. And she had seen them come up with plenty of ideas.

  She rushed to the corner building, a cafe with tables stacked into a crude wall against the zombies, and the glass storefront shattered. This might work...

  She placed her hand on the wall and concentrated, trying to feel the building. She could vaguely sense solid objects as part of her ability, and she had a much more detailed sense of anything she could affect with her power.

  She was in luck. The builders had been a little cheap, so the first few floors were made mostly of concrete and rebar. Floor four and higher were mostly things she couldn't really sense in detail, probably steel and other sturdier materials. It didn't matter. The first few floors were all she needed.

  How to do this? She had to be careful. The foundation consisted of four concrete pillars supporting the second floor, so she should be able to do this just by tearing out the right supports. The walls were just plaster and sheetrock, they couldn't actually support any weight. She chose the rightmost pillar, the one on the corner.

  Placing her hand on it, she could feel that this should work. If she ripped this out, everything should go as planned. The only problem was the pillar itself.

  She had never really destroyed anything before. With her power, that was. She dipped into the city's concrete foundation to make walls and weapons, but she hadn't really done anything permanent.

  She didn't like destroying things. Never had. You couldn't get back something you've destroyed. She remembered when she was a kid and one of her orphanmates destroyed her anime collection. Even when her matron had promised they could just re-download everything, she still didn't stop crying for most of the day. A copy just never felt quite the same, even though it should.

  But... she didn't have time for this right now. Right or wrong, she had to do this. So following the example of all action protagonists ever, she buried her misgivings deep inside herself, and resolved never to think of it again. That should last for at least a few hours.

  So, with her heart turned to stone, she concentrated on the concrete under her hand and pulled with all her power.

  There was a snap, and a huge crack appeared in the pillar.

  Not enough. Not yet. She pulled again.

  The crack widened, and the building groaned as its weight shifted.

  Just a little more... she had enough power to pull just a little harder.

  She poured every last drop of power she had into it, wringing her reservoir dry as the pillar cracked, and the building above her head groaned dangerously.

  The pillar exploded.

  Dust and debris billowed out, covering her and the street behind her, and she felt pieces and slivers of concrete slice tiny gashes across her arms and face. Nothing serious, but she shouldn't have been standing in the line of fire.

  After a few moments of waving her hands around blindly and coughing, the dust began to clear. She opened her eyes...

  And the building was still standing. Groaning louder than before, but still very much upright. A couple of the rebar bars in the pillar she had just destroyed were still intact, but even her nonexistent knowledge of architecture was enough to tell her that they weren't providing any actual support.

  Okay, so maybe it was built a little better than I thought. Still, most of the work was done. It just needed a little push.

  Ling entered the 'scraper cautiously, worried about the unstable roof but knowing she had no other choice. She crossed to the pillar diagonally opposite the one she had destroyed, knowing this was the point she needed to attack if her plan was going to work. Her reservoir wasn't quite filled yet, but that was fine. She still needed to assess the situation a little more anyway.

  Placing her hand on the pillar gave her more than enough information. The building was teetering dangerously, but the foundation was still strong enough to support it. It might fall eventually, but not any time soon.

  Well. She'd just have to do something about that.

  She took a deep breath, her hand still on the pillar. She should be able to do this. Her reservoir was full, so she had the power and to spare. Her only worry was that she would screw it up and drop a building on herself. She might have some spare juice to protect herself, but she wasn't very hopeful on that front. Most of the stuff that would fall on her wasn't stuff she could affect anyway.

  Still, it was too late to back out now. Gathering all her power, she pushed as hard as she could.

  Only this time, she pushed up.

  It qui
ckly became apparent that her suspicions were correct. This was the crux point, and from here she could unbalance the entire 'scraper in the direction she wanted. But it was still an entire building, and her reservoir was draining fast with little to show for it.

  It creaked and groaned and dust fell on her head, but it didn't seem to actually be moving. She could feel something happening through the pillar, both from the vibrations and her power itself, but she didn't have enough experience to be able to tell if it was working.

  But then a crack appeared in the pillar. A deep, horizontal gash.

  The pillar groaned, and the crack widened.

  It was working. Slowly, ever so slowly, but it was working.

  And then—

  Her reservoir ran dry.

  There was a muffled boom when her power snapped off, as the building settled back down onto its foundations. Even more dust rained down, and she had to cover my face with her shirt to even be able to breathe. Still, sheetrock and concrete got down her throat, and she coughed like she was hacking up a lung.

  She had been so excited her plan was actually working she had completely lost track of what was going on. Her reservoir was still not very deep. She had some power to play with, but it was really only good for small bursts of energy. She should have known moving an entire skyscraper was beyond her.

  But she could try again. Her entire body ached from the overexertion, but her reservoir was still refilling. Except... it seemed slower than normal. Just by a hair, but still. Was that because she was so tired? Did that affect it somehow?

  Huh. Ling made a mental note to talk to Laura about it. She'd have a better idea about what it might mean, and how to test the theory.

  Still, right now Ling needed to focus on the task at hand. One more good push should be able to do it. It was probably for the best that it hadn't worked on the first try, actually. This way, people would notice the dust billowing out and move out of the way, while the zombies would be too stupid to notice.

  A few minutes of rest was enough. She would have liked some water to wash out the taste of dirt in her mouth, but she didn't have any on her, and there was no time to go find some.