NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: Monique.
Chapter 30: Monique.
“Wah! I didn’t do that! I didn’t enjoy that! I didn’t kill anyone! I’m a good person! I’m a good person! Happy thoughts Solomon! Positive thoughts!”
“Quiet fool. That was obviously the future. You knew what cords I used. You saw the strings. Focus on the lessons I’ve imparted. Charlie’s desires are simple. He wants to right the wrongs he’s seen without suffering the consequences. He wouldn’t have gotten his loved ones killed if he’d been smart enough to wear a mask in the first place.”
Sarcophagus Solomon’s voice was monotone as always, yet I could have sworn there was some hint of sick amusement there.
“Now remember, Whitmer senior will be on an errand at the rubber factory when Charlie gets back. He’ll be trying to crush a new union then. All you need do is inform your would-be ally of this and explain how his loved ones are in danger. That’ll win us his trust.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because we’ve been through this before. My own vision warned me to forget about the gnomes and butcher Anezka before she went back to her dimension. I refused. Wanting to be a hero, like you. The result was her getting her paws on her home world’s tech. Returning with the means to annihilate all opposition. The toys you’ve seen so far cannot begin to compare. Its too advanced to control, at least, it will be, till we get [Electronic Interface] above the fourth Tier.”
The pod walked around me on its knife-like legs. Clinking and clattering in the unreal space like falling garbage cans.
“I know you’ll refuse too. The lure of redemption will be too much.”
“Damn straight!” I countered, finally finding my spine. “There is no way I’m leaving those people to rot!”
“Which is exactly why you need to do as I say and recruit the other prodigies. Borislav is fine, but he’s more scared of you than anything. He’ll be content with getting his payback in a month. He’s got no incentive to help when Anezka traps us. Charlie, for all his faults, is loyal to the bone. Its as good a place to start as any.”
The coffin clattered over to face me directly. A transparent window displaying organs suspended in thick green liquid meeting my gaze.
“Still, its not enough. We can do better. Monique can be persuaded to help in a similar manner. She wants her kids and is willing to do anything to keep them safe.”
Another figure joined us. Stepping out of nothingness.
Half-formed bone and muscle congealed into the semblance of an ogre. Secure behind thick layers of exoskeletons.
“What have you done! What have you done to me!”
Other me barely acknowledged its presence.
“Silence. You got what you wanted and now you’ll pay the price. A second Type to break this prison. Only difference is, you’ll be assisting him once he’s done my bidding.”
“You can’t keep me here! You can’t keep me from…!”
“Whatever liberties I take are completely justified, Peddler. Your obligations are not yet fulfilled.”
The me that was not me called upon the rope again. Tying us together and flinging us to another scene.
Somewhere else, my body is thinner. Bedraggled.
Fire cleanses the dead before me.
Bolts of billowing heat rushing from my fingers and igniting whole swathes of zombies.
Its almost musical.
An orchestra of rising conflagration.
Blessed judgement raining down and remaking the world.
My world.
The world the dead tried to steal.
The world they have nearly consumed.
I think back to everyone that didn’t make it.
Gerald and Monica. Old Granny Rodgers. The McDougal Twins. My husband, Kenny.
‘Oh Kenny.’
‘If only you were here to see this. To see what became of our neighborhood. The house we worked so hard to pay off.’
‘How it all turned out, when the gas attack began and the infection spread. When the people started dropping like flies. When they started getting back up again.’
I still have nightmares about those first weeks. How people turned on each other for scraps. Human life being worth less than a car, less than a generator, less than a can of soup.
That was then. Now, some folks out there would stab you to death for a water bottle. Those were the only ones who were desperate enough to make it this far. Natural selection on a whole other level.
No longer.
This is the beginning of their undoing. Where humanity re-asserts itself as the top of the food chain.
I will not stop until it is done.
Until all of them are gone and people can walk in the open without fear of mutants.
I close my eyes and breathe deeply as the ashes are scattered by the wind.
My eyes open, and I look back to check my screen.
Name:
Monique Fletcher
Psy:
232/280
Type:
Projector Level 46
Abilities:
[Force Bubble] 4 / [Force Wall] 4 / [Force Bolt] 2 / [Fire Bubble] 3 / [Fire Wall] 5 / [Fire Bolt] 5 / [Frost Bubble] 2 / [Frost Wall] 3 / [Frost Bolt] 2 / [Spark Bubble] 2 / [Spark Wall] 2 / [Spark Bolt] 3 / [Local Apport] 1 / [Local Portal] 5 / [Local Jump] 3 / [Local Banishment] 2 / [Accelerate] 2 / [Decelerate] 2 / [Local Regression] 2 / [Sense Heat] 2 / [Sense Kinetic] 2 / [Absorb Heat] 2 / [Absorb Radiation] 2 / [Absorb Sound] 2 / [Pressurize] 2 / [Depressurize] 2
Ability Points:
0
‘No changes. Despite this being the fourth horde. I guess it was too much to hope for. Leveling by cleaning up zombies. Not that I’ll be discouraged in any case.’
I still have children to think about. They have to be here somewhere, with another group. Little miracles that will inherit this earth after I’m gone.
Everything I do, I do it for them. For their sakes. For their future.
They are all I have left. The last pieces of paradise I managed to hold on to. The last pieces of Kenny.
“Holy cow Monique! You did it again! Ha ha! Look at them! Look at them burn! Oh, that is beautiful! I tell you sunshine, we keep this up a couple of weeks and we’ll have cleared the whole state!”
“Indeed.” I answer, looking back at Roy.
He’s younger than me, barely into his thirties.
His own daughter is a small bundle at his back, wrapped tightly in freshly-washed blankets.
He too lost people.
Just like everyone else.
Those eyes of his were devoid of hope two months ago.
Going through the motions to stay alive one more day. Doing whatever needs to be done to see another sunrise. Sometimes that meant looting a house for the third or fourth time, making sure there isn’t anything else worth taking. On the good days, we could all share some beans and wild mushrooms. Maybe even some giant crickets or seagulls that wander too close to camp and find themselves inside our nets. Little scraps we pull together from the safety of shadows and hidden corners. On the bad days, well, there were less people to share with.
He would have given up a long time ago if he didn’t have Joy next to him.
Now, they were practically glinting.
Ecstasy and expectations shining through as he watched the final dregs of the mob disintegrate. He wasn’t alone in his newfound optimism either. All the others were staring in wonder as the biggest threat to our survival practically evaporated before my powers.
I wish my own blood were among them. Jimmy and Ben had been beside me when I was taken. Now they could be anywhere on the mountain. Never knowing where I went.
What did they think when I wasn’t there with them?
Did they think I abandoned them?
That I walked off in the night by myself?
Or did they wonder whether I took the easy way out?
The mere thought tears me up inside. Twisting in my belly like a rusty blade.
Roy and the rest don’t notice, too busy gawking at my handiwork.
I don’t blame them. My own powers are a mystery I’m still in the middle of solving. I know the things I’m doing shouldn’t be possible. No human being has ever been able to do what I’m doing on this world.
It goes against the laws of physics. The very logic of the universe.
“Were there more people down there with you? Down in those caves I mean? Getting powers.”
“Yeah, there should be around one hundred left alive.”
“Any chance we can gather them all up and start fortifying a permanent settlement?”
“Maybe. There seems to be something strange going on. Almost like people are coming from different points in time. I met some people who said they were from Byzantium, some who said they were from a colony in Mars, and some who said they came from a world with real superheroes.”
“Whoa. That. Sounds. Awesome. Can you imagine? Being able to see some guy in spandex obliterating zombies every morning?”
“No. I can’t. Neither could they. Apparently, zombies aren’t a thing in these places.”
“Sounds like an ideal vacation spot. In fact, even those caves sound a heck of a lot more pleasant than this dump. Any chance some of us could go with you when you return? Get ourselves some powers?”
“I don’t know. I was taken with the clothes I had on me last time, along with all the gear strapped to my body.”
“Sounds like we need to do some experimenting then. Any help would be welcome.”
We continue talking for a few minutes as I wait for my Psy to fully restore itself. Our conversation is cut short by the sounding of a whistle on the nearby hill.
Two short blows in quick succession.
Elite Mutant Zombies.
The kind that can crush army battalions with ease.
I activate [Local Jump] and launch myself into the air. The short-range teleportation ability does its job. Moving me roughly 30 or 40 feet per point. The only downsides are the cost and the brief cooldowns.
[Force Wall] materializes beneath my feet a heartbeat later, keeping me from falling while I ready myself for another jump.
This second ascension allows me to see the threat, [Sense Heat] and [Sense Kinetic] outlining the muscle-bound giants as they rampage in our direction. Their charge uproots trees and displaces boulders. Each step falling like thunder upon the undergrowth.
I conjure a wall of billowing flames in their path, stuffing it full of Psy so that it widens as much as possible. All the nearby flora ignites, creating a conflagration that distorts air all around it. Even their super-powered frames cannot stop their momentum in time, and they slam into the searing heat, their rags catching fire. Inhuman screams erupt from their deformed mouths as they writhe in pain. Layers of skin melt off like candle wax and slide off exposed viscera.
They throw themselves away from the inferno and roll on the ground, desperate to extinguish their torment.
This much fire would have annihilated regular zombies, but it will merely annoy these variants. Their kind is already accustomed to surviving missiles from helicopters. All that damage will regenerate in less than a day. Unless I end them now.
I am falling.
Descending at terrifying speed, towards the spreading inferno.
I activate [Decelerate], slowing me down enough to get my bearings again.
I begin to feed [Fire Bolt], cramming Psy into it as if I were filling a balloon. It shivers and shakes between my fingers, destructive potential coming to life. It wants to be free. To be set loose.
The mutants notice me, even through the smoke. Their pus-filled sockets turning in my direction.
They run together, towards large rocks and shattered park benches, relics of a kinder, happier time.
These remnants are thrown in my direction with brutal strength and uncanny accuracy. If they hit, they will make my body explode with the sheer weight behind them.
That won’t happen however.
[Local Portal] roars as it rends a hole in space itself.
Projectiles pass through the aperture and are transferred, along with all their deadly momentum, through the exit I’ve designated.
As it happens, that point is located right behind their group.
SPLAT!
Chunks of splintered wood, stone and metal hit the monsters, ripping through their vulnerable seared tissues and gouging pieces of flesh from their forms.
Horrific cries of agony rise to meet me.
Poor fools.
They don’t understand what real pain is. The pain of seeing all your family turned or devoured, to find their rotting carcasses among a swarm of unthinking meat puppets.
To not know where they are.
This suffering is only transient.
Besides, they won’t be hurting for much longer.
I create another portal, this time directly in front of them, while they are distracted by the surprise attack from their rear. I let the blazing lance of death through it. Then I shut it close, before the explosion comes.
My kinetic senses go silent while my ability to sense heat swells with renewed vibrance.
[Decelerate] consumes more and more energy as it brings me to safety.
I begin to plan my next jump, readying myself to land far away from the burning tree line, when I sense a burst of motion. A lone figure launches itself in my direction, arms joined above it head so as to slam me down to earth.
New instincts kick in and I bring forth my bubble, just in time to intercept the blow.
Telekinetic force bursts and gives way, surrendering before overwhelming strength. My essence reels with the impact, all the energy coursing in my veins breaking for an instant. While the actual hit fails to graze my body, the incredible volume of displaced air blows me backwards.
I lose my focus and fall as a normal person.
The brute reaches the ground first, immediately leaping back at me, ready to repeat the earlier battering.
This time, I open a portal beneath me, sending the other end as far away as I can while inverting my fall. All that built up gravitational force sends me skyward and I [Accelerate] myself to ascend further and further. From there, I jump vertically, increasing the distance yet further before placing another wall beneath me.
I wheeze as the rapid expenditure of resources takes its toll.
Dizziness catches up to me and I struggle to keep myself from vomiting.
‘Too much. Too strong. How is it this different from the others? Is this what a real elite is like? Its not fair. Its completely out of this world. How are regular people supposed to survive something like this? Ha Ha Ha. What a joke. Of course, they’re not supposed to survive. That’s why the world ended dummy.’
I shoot another [Fire Bolt], followed closely by a [Spark Bolt], catching the damn thing in mid-air while it was making another attempt at my life. Its mass is pulled downwards, towards the burning earth where It’ll have another chance to counter.
I don’t allow that to happen.
Instead, a portal opens up beneath it, swallowing it whole and sending it above me. I then pile on [Accelerate]. Making sure it reaches a respectable height before gravity re-asserts itself.
After that, I just keep going. Using [Pressurize] to keep it still and hurting the whole way down.
My ability multiplying its velocity more and more as I channel my meager reserves into it. Despite being unable to read its expression, I like to think it felt a fraction of my own terror then.
CRAAASH!
The crater it births displaces dirt and fumes. Swathes of detritus pushed away as the goliath finally falls.
Another [Fire Wall] erupts beneath it, roasting its filthy un-life away while all its bones are pulverized.
Nightmarish roars and bellows continue for a good 10 minutes after that.
I’ve already completed my own slowed fall, barely scraping by with just 2 Psy left.
It is done.
There are now only charred remains where there used to be killing machines.
To think just one of them could have snuffed out our whole group mere hours before I returned.
It really puts things into their proper perspective.
The Labyrinth is not pleasant, despite Roy’s fantasies of superheroes.
It is a filthy, claustrophobic maze filled with starving insects, eels, gnomes, moles and worst of all, people.
A place where the end can come from any corner and in many shapes.
Why, there are even robots and traps and turrets, suggesting that someone very sadistic is in charge. That all the misery was put there knowingly.
I myself would have died a thousand deaths if it wasn’t for my bubbles or my walls.
Frankly, I’m scared of going back.
My body remembering the feeling of being cornered by that bull, horns slamming against my walls as I had no opening to attack.
Each of its blows had taken more and more energy from me, more vital parts of my power. If I hadn’t chosen the portal ability, if I hadn’t thought to level it, if I hadn’t been able to attack the machine from the rear…
I would be dead.
Just like all the other numbers subtracted from the survivor total.
Entire lives ticking down.
However, it is a chance.
An opportunity to grow and prosper, instead of merely subsisting day by day on the scraps we can sneak out of town. A chance to break the Rat Kings, those moving mountains of fused flesh that lurk inside the major cities to this day.
A way out.
Maybe the only one left.
The army, if any are still around, have been rendered next to useless.
Our government has collapsed, and none of our elected officials have sent out radio messages for the past month.
Other countries, well, I don’t know.
They might still be around.
Maybe some islands escaped the outbreak, or maybe the environment of the colder nations was just too inhospitable, even for the elites.
None of that is relevant to our group in any case.
We’re stranded in the middle of Colorado.
All by our lonesome.
The only edge we’ve had is that most of the nearby survivors congregated at Denver, and most zombies followed them.
But now…
If I’ve managed to become this powerful in just two months, who’s to say how far I can go?
What will I be capable off at Level 100?
I might be able to sweep all of it back. To break free of this destiny.
Those ideas used to be pipe dreams. Now, they are within my grasp. I just need to reach out and take them.
To become stronger than I am now. More potent than even the designers themselves, whomever they might be.
That’s what it’ll take.
To save my world and my family.
“Are there any left?” Roy asks when I get back.
“No. All taken care of.”
“Fantastic! That means we’re clear to rummage through the town over yonder! Haven’t been near these parts yet and I’m feeling lucky.”
“Sounds like a plan. While you guys get to it, I’ll be using your map.”
Roy paused. As if he suddenly found himself the target of a very irate tiger.
“You’re not coming with?”
I shook my head.
“Only have a week before I’m pulled back in. Need to find my kids before then.”
“Ah. Right. I…uh…forgot about that.”
He scratched the back of his neck. A wave of awkwardness overcame him, resulting in several mumbled phrases leaking out before any intelligible sounds escaped.
“Listen, Monique. I’m sorry about that. Should’ve kept track of them back when you were gone.”
I gritted my teeth involuntarily.
“No worries. I understand how it is. Gotta look after your own first and foremost.”
“Yeah. Jimmy seemed to get it together pretty quick. He took Ben and went with Natasha’s crew after our…uh…disagreement.”
“You already told me that.”
“I know. I also told you that I had no idea where they went. Which is also true.”
“Get to the point Roy.”
“I’m getting there!” He almost shouted, before realizing who he was speaking to. “The point is that they could be anywhere in the state. Even outside of it for all we know. There’s no quick way to reach them if they’ve kept moving and…”
He stopped to steady himself.
“No guarantee they’re alive. Meanwhile, we’re here. Definitely alive and in need. We would’ve died today if you hadn’t been with us. We might be dead tomorrow after you’re gone.”
“I know that.” Monique replied, as if commenting on the weather. “We all take care of our own. I can’t be here with you when my kids need me.”
“But they might be…”
“I know Roy!” She yelled. “I’m not stupid. I know damn well what happens to people who can’t take care of themselves and I know Natasha is not up for babysitting duty. They’re my kids and I’m going to chase them. No. Matter. What.”
Roy went quiet. Fidgeting slightly with his sleeves.
“Is there nothing we can say to….”
“No. My answer is final.”
True to her word, Monique left the clearing as I left her perspective. Still reeling from the shock of a mother’s love.
“She won’t find them.” Said the other me. “Not until after the second cycle in another two months. After their luck ran out. You will intervene by telling her the two are in Denver. Hiding in some oil magnate’s doomsday bunker. Under the red mansion in Shady Acres. All she has to do is take a right when driving or flying past the fireworks trailer blocking the main highway into the city. She will reach them before the week is up and relocate.”
Smug satisfaction leaked into the audio. Other me vibrating with expectation.
“That should serve in the short term.”