Chapter 20 - Spooky

  I flipped the light switch, just to make sure the electricity was still off. The lightbulb remained dead, but I still held my breath, unlocking the door to the outside. The alarm didn't trigger. I exhaled and scanned the area.

  The morning light was muted, almost bruised, like someone had placed a sunset filter over the world. On the west toward the mountains, the horizon has taken on a hazy amber tint. The clouds that should have been white were tinged with a peachy glow where they caught the rays of sunlight.

  I took in a deep breath, tasting the air. It was still relatively clear with only the faintest hint of smoke. You might almost mistake it for someone's fireplace if you didn't know better. But after living in California for years, I knew what it meant. We were in for an early forest fire season.

  I stood there a moment longer, listening. The car finally stopped wailing, and the silence settled over the place. It wasn't peaceful, though. There was absolutely no wind, no birds, no crickets. Just the eerie calm.

  I wondered if the government had issued an evacuation order. Was there even anywhere to evacuate anymore, anywhere safer than here?

  I squizzed my plastic spear with attached box cutter blades and started toward home. Then I stopped short, nearly slapping myself. My [Pathfinder] card should have been off cooldown by now! That was the problem with gaining so many abilities in such a short time - I kept forgetting to actually use them.

  I went back into the office, locked the door and spread the map on the reception table over the paper mess that was already there.

  My townhouse was on the west side of town, near a golf course. We must have passed close to it that first night when Andy's neighbour gave us a ride. The place was in a gated community, which would make getting in even harder now, since all the gate locks were electronic.

  I activated the skill and focused on my destination.

  All the considerations that went through my mind were based on yesterday's experience and my general knowledge of the area. I had no idea what monsters might actually be there now. Four potential routes came to mind. The shortest would take me through the ants' territory, so I dismissed it immediately. Another led through the mall, but we'd already learned that populated areas were bad news. That left two options: a detour, and a very long detour.

  The shorter detour cut through the old cemetery. Spooky, sure, but I hadn't seen any zombies in our area. And cemeteries were generally empty of people, right?

  As I was leaving the room, a strange thought popped into my mind. All that crumpled paper on the table looked delectably flammable, like kindling begging for a match.

  I shook the thought out of my head and stepped outside, almost ready to brave the day.

  The roads were slightly wet from the recent rain, and my soft animal slippers instantly soaked in the moisture.

  It was easier to watch for danger once you knew what to look for. I heard the claws clicking on wet asphalt long before the monsters came into view. Minding the pungency of my own smell, I ducked behind a cluster of dumpsters near the tall wooden fence of the gated community. I crouched as low as I could behind the ditch shrubs while still keeping an eye on what was coming.

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  Four dinos sprinted down the street towards the car alarm. They were stopping to listen, every once in a while, and I couldn't get rid of the image of the overgrown chickens, cocking their heads left and right. I wondered if their vision was also specialized for detecting and tracking movement.

  When I was a kid, I loved playing with chickens. I even had a pet one named Coco. She became a soup a few years after I named her. If things kept going the way they were, people might soon find out if these dinos tasted like poultry.

  Four raptors moved slowly past my hiding spot. I waited until they disappeared from sight before emerging from behind the bins.

  It was unnerving how quickly things had changed. I'd jogged these streets freely just days ago, and now I was reduced to hiding and sneaking around. Humanity really needs to pull its shit together.

  As if summoned by the thought, a helicopter flew overhead, heading toward the mountains. That wasn't good. The noise would draw monsters straight toward the route I was taking.

  I sped up and switched into a light jog, hoping to outrun the raptors, or whoever else might be attracted by the noise.

  I turned left at the next intersection. The street view was blocked by tall wooden fences and a truck, advertising construction services. But after some careful advancing I confirmed it was clear. The sight past the next turn left made me slow down.

  The Old Pioneer Cemetery wasn't as quiet as I'd hoped. A human-sized mirage hung suspended in the air, right in the middle of the grounds. It was transparent, like the picture defect caused by the dirt on the lens. I doubted it would even be visible at night. But in the daylight, I could make out smaller wisps extending toward graves or dissipating into nothing, like drops of ink dissolving in water.

  Spooky. But it wasn't moving.

  I shrugged off the shivers and picked up speed. The world was still changing for the worse. Andy was probably right about fighting to stay ahead of the curve.

  I caught movement in a window of one of the houses overlooking the cemetery.

  How were these people still here? Just sitting in their homes with this ominous squid-thing hovering in their backyard? Would I have been any different if I'd been in the safety of my house when all this went down?

  The strong gust of wind and approaching shadow were all the warning I got before a large serrated beak clamped around my midsection. The teeth pierced the soft flesh of my hands, but I'd been hurt so many times over the past few days that I was able to push through the pain and focus on survival. The beak was smaller than the one I'd seen at the hospital, but the unmistakable yellow colouring with a red dot on the bottom was easy to recognize.

  I [Leaped]. Teeth ripped through my flesh as my body hurtled forward. Jolts of agony made the world blur, as I sailed toward the tall trees at the end of the street. My bare shoulder burned like it was on fire. The spear fell from my weakened grip. I crashed down among the trees, struggling to twist around on my knees.

  The seagull made a loud "keow" sound and lifted back into the air. The menace circled the trees, giving me time to get back to my feet. The bird was much smaller than the one I had killed. That's why it wasn't able to easily lift and swallow me. But as with the previous one, the size wasn't my only concern. I looked around for more winged shapes. The smoky sky was clear so far.

  Ok, hiding here wouldn't help. I needed to keep moving and find a better cover. Keeping an eye on the seagull, I pulled the can and a lighter out of my backpack. My arms were bleeding, and my right hand lost some strength. I was lightheaded and didn't dare use the [Torch], but I was still able to move, and that was all that mattered. I stuck the spray into the pockets of my pants, picked up my spear and started moving cautiously.

  The seagull tried to attack me right away, but it wasn't the most graceful of birds. It avoided my spear once, twice, and after a third time, I managed to cut the wing. Our altercation had attracted some attention, and I had caught sight of a second giant bird flying in our direction from the far-off coastline.

  When the injured seagull went for a fifth dive, I dropped the spear, pulled the can and a lighter. I had just enough time to spray its wing tip with a flame. The can sputtered and stopped, but the damage was done. The flame had spread quickly along the vanes and barbs of the adjacent feathers, and soon the entire bird was on fire. It was still in the air, feeding the fire with large puffs of wind. I didn't stop to see what would happen. The feathers burned quickly, and I hoped nothing else would catch on fire from it.

  I ran towards the next intersection, hoping to hide from another approaching bird on the road with more trees. I really didn't want to use my [Torch] and become incapacitated in the middle of nowhere.

  Fortunately, the other bird had never reached me. Whether it got distracted or thought I wasn't worth the fight, I didn't know. But I was grateful for a breather.

  The worst of my wounds was on my right arm. The two-inch-long jagged laceration ran across my tricep. There was a lot of blood. I used an alcohol wipe to clean it, then trigger [Tissue Splice].

  Iris was touching my shoulder when healing, so I tried to hold the flesh together, hoping it would consume less mana this way. The torn edges pull together like a closing zipper. The sight was magical and disturbing at once. Thankfully, I didn't feel more faint than before. But the outcome wasn't as miraculous as the [Heal] results either. The surrounding flesh staid red and swollen.

  My right hand was my dominant hand. I couldn't leave it half-fixed. [Heal Wound] took care of the inflammation, and I watched the redness fade until the skin looked completely normal again.

  The smaller cuts on my left hand got alcohol wipes and Band-Aids.

  I packed up and kept moving.