Hell

With a last glance at the group we were leaving behind, we headed for the door. Out in the hall, things were quiet. Lace shifted over onto Claire's shoulders, earning me a wink.

"Is that thing really safe?" Heather asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. My class is Beast Tamer. She won't leave me alone, but she'll sit on your shoulder if she likes you."

As if to emphasise my point, Claire was busy scratching Lace's head while the small monster growled affectionately. When we got to the stairs, the caltrops were still set out. But someone had kicked them aside to make room to go down. I figured it was the young couple who left when the fight started. I made sure to collect each one, noting they were all clean, and placed them in my belt pouch. I paused on the fifth floor and waved for everyone to stop.

"I'll be back."

Darting away, I found the room with the phone and with a swift cut of my dagger, I severed the cord and placed the phone in the belt pouch with the caltrops. Heading back to the group, we continued our descent. The fourth floor held no surprises. The third had a still burning fire set on it. But as we passed the second a voice called out.

"Hey, we wanna come with you!"

I turned and spotted the young couple crawling out from under a desk. "You two okay?"

The guy nodded and scratched his head, while the girl shot me a smile. "Sorry about running off. I didn't want Beth getting anywhere near that fight. Figured it was better off seeing who came out before we made a decision to head off on our own. I'm Dean."

"Nice to meet you, Dean. And I won't hold it against you going for safety," I reached out and shook his hand. "We're getting out of here," I waved for the stairs.

Heading down to the first floor, it didn't seem anyone else was here. I didn't see any shriekers either. But there were plenty of buzzards out and about.

"Alright, Davin, I didn't want you speaking earlier, because we've got some points to farm."

"What?" he asked.

I grinned, "These buzzards. They probably don't want anything to do with a large group of us. If we go in as a group to each corpse we find, we can take turns looting them. Most of these people won't have used their bonus for the survival pack. If they haven't made it back yet to collect their own corpse, they're probably not coming."

He eyed me and nodded, "Right, sorry."

I just shook my head, "Don't be. You were going to complain about point sharing. It was valid. I just didn't want to tell the others. Now, the buzzards will tell us where the bodies are. All we gotta do is touch them, loot and move on. So Davin, you're up first."

Davin grinned and moved to stand by me as we set off. From ground level with all the debris around, we couldn't see the river like we could from the building. But I had a general idea of the direction it was. I had higher hopes once we'd left the city limits of seeing our destination. But there was one simple problem between here and there. The plain that surrounded the trees along the river, would offer no cover as we crossed. Shaking my head, I put that aside for a problem to think about later. Who knows, maybe there'd be a spot where the trees reached out over the plains that I couldn't see because of the buildings. Just a quick change of plans and a detour could make things easier.

The group stayed relatively quiet as we walked. There were a few complaints. Mostly about the state of the city or the smell that wafted over us from time to time. The sun beat down on us from above and I noticed everyone copied me when I put up my hood. The first body didn't take long to find, but it was covered in almost a dozen buzzards. Lace reared up, letting out a loud hiss, trying to scare them off. I grinned at the thought and urged everyone forward. A few of the buzzards flew off, but others tried to hiss and defend their meal. But Davin spotted a small scrap of... Meat... and reached down to touch it. A moment later the corpse vanished and the buzzards screeched in anger as they took to the skies.

"Lucky, we only need to touch a piece, not the whole thing," Davin grinned.

We set up a rotation with me last as I had the most points. And one by one we collected corpse after corpse. The angry screeches of the buzzards only got louder as we cut a swathe through the dead. We could have spread out and collected all the corpses, but it would have taken longer in the end. Sticking together meant safety and we could move quicker and have more eyes open for danger. Our group moved as one down the road, between the building we slept in, and the one we could see people in across the street. When I glanced up, I could see more than one face peering down at us. Hopefully they really were friendly. I didn't like the idea of someone following after us in the night. It was one thing collecting these points off already dead bodies. Another if we stumbled across another person and took theirs by force. I wouldn't have anything to do with... Well... Banditry. But that didn't mean others would hold to my ideals.

As we got to the end of the street, I turned us towards the river and into what looked like a parking lot. Unlike the haphazard cars in rows, or bunches in the street. This looked orderly and neat by comparison. A few here and there were out of place. Either by someone trying to move the cars in the lot, or... well it looked like a few had been moved more recently, by something rather large moving through the area.

As we had before, we rotated our group around, collecting points from corpses we passed. The shriekers were messy eaters and the buzzards couldn't bite through larger bones, so there were plenty of leftovers to loot. But it wasn't the... bits... that got to me. It was the ones that almost got away. A man, long dead, curled up under a turned over car, missing part of his leg. A woman, who was cradling her intestines inside the shell of an old panel van. The worst was an unrecognisable corpse. An individual had tried to dive through the window of a truck and got caught halfway. They had been eaten down to the pelvis, which was the only thing holding them in place after it wedged itself against the frame. That one was left to me as nobody else was particularly keen on getting closer. So after looting my five-thousand points, I hopped down and kept walking.

"Psst!" A voice hissed.

Waving my hand to get down, my group quickly crouched. I moved forward and peeked around a sedan to see who made the noise. There was a middle-aged woman, lying under a car with a young man beside her. She was staring at me, while the young man was distracted by something else. Before I could respond, a shrieker stood up. I nearly shouted in alarm as I slipped back out of view. This one looked different from the others.

"Everyone quiet," Ryan hissed softly, as everyone nodded in agreement. "Edith?"

One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand. Three-one-thou-

"Yes, Mr. Ryan?" Edith said in her characteristic cheer.

"Edith, the first shriekers were brown and yellow, this one's got red on it, is that significant?"

"Yes, Mr. Ryan. The colour denotes gender."

I sighed softly, "Edith, I didn't see any of these yesterday in this colour. Why is that?"

"Mr. Ryan, the shriekers you saw yesterday were females in part of a large flock."

"So this is a male?"

"Yes, Mr. Ryan."

"Is it part of a flock?" I asked, thinking about our need to find somewhere to hole up for a while.

"No Mr. Ryan, males follow after flocks in the hopes to mate, but are otherwise solitary in nature."

"Why are you being so tight lipped and direct all of a sudden?" I grumbled.

Edith remained silent for a few moments before replying, "Mr. Ryan, general information is readily available. If it is possible for you to observe it, I can help you understand it. Accessing information like the specific genders or behaviours of individual species is far more difficult."

"Difficult, this is a game, Edith, how is it difficult?"

"It's more of a simulation, Mr. Ryan. And I do apologize, but it can't be helped."

I paused, "You're not the one in charge?"

"I cannot answer that question at this time," Edith said cheerily.

I sighed and nodded my head, "Can you tell me how to tame a beast then?"

"Mr. Ryan, in order to tame a beast, you must overcome it."

"Thanks Edith," I said, rolling my eyes.

She must have picked up on my annoyance as she didn't respond. This whole situation was out of hand. Leaning back around the corner of the vehicle I hid behind I could see the shrieker. It was clearly eating what was once a person. It lowered its head from view, we heard a wet crunching sound and saw it standing upright again. A quick flick of its head and a lump of meat and bone fell into the back of its mouth and it swallowed.

"Lace, get ready to distract it," I mumbled as I laid down my spear.

Lace gave a small soft chirp and I hoped she understood what I wanted from her.

Chapter Five

Taking a deep breath, I waved for the others to stay put. Leaning around the car, I waited for the shrieker to bob down. The moment it did, I quickly moved to the car where the man and woman were hiding. The man looked unharmed but scared. The woman had a long gash across her chest. It didn't look fatal, but it would probably get infected if left untreated. They both watched me warily as I approached. When Lace poked her head out from around my shoulders, their eyes bugged out of their heads. I raised a finger to my lips and they covered their mouths quickly.

Being this close, I could hear the shrieker clearly as it ate its meal. The wet sound of tearing flesh filled the air. It even made soft cooing noises as it ate. Reaching up to my shoulder, Lace slid over my arm allowing me to cradle her. I listened to the clomp of the shriekers jaws snapping shut over its mouthful. The moment, I heard the squelch of soft flesh, I tossed Lace over the car towards the shrieker. In a flash, Lace growled and made a ruckus. The shrieker stood up and made a soft shriek in challenge. I quietly climbed atop the car body as the shrieker turned its back to me. With its attention firmly fixed forward, I took a step towards it. The moment my foot touched the roof, it creaked loudly and the shrieker turned its head, staring directly at me.

With a sharp hiss, Lace launched at the shrieker's face. She impacted with the side of its head, buffeting it with her wings. The shrieker reared up flapping in shock at the small buzzard's sudden move to attack. Without a second thought, I leaped onto the shrieker's back and wrapped my arms around its neck. With a squawk, it took off. No matter my previous experiences in life. I doubt I'd ever felt anything like this before. It was both smooth and bumpy. The two-legged bird ran in a pedaling motion that kept its body level and moving. But it also constantly shifted and jolted in an attempt to throw me off. It flapped its wings, trying to stab me with its spurs, but with me on its back, it just didn't have the angle to do so. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around its head, trying to wrestle it under my control. It took the opportunity to twist around and try to bite me directly. Fortunately, that worked in my favour as I pinned its head against my chest in a bear hug.

The shrieker, unable to see, came to a dead stop and spun in place as I held its head firmly. The rage in its eye was all consuming as it started shrieking and trying to bite but I held firm. And like that, it suddenly went still in my arms.

"Edith?"

"Yes, Mr. Ryan?"

"Instant reply means it's no longer a threat?"

"That is correct Mr. Ryan."

I nodded, "I'm sorry for getting short with you earlier."

"As I mentioned Mr. Ryan. I'm perfectly okay with you hating me. But I appreciate your kindness regardless. I may not be able to explain much of what is going on, but I do sympathise with your situation."

Nodding, I dismissed her with a thought and slowly released the shrieker's head. It blinked up at me, before straightening. I spent a few moments just sitting on its back as I looked around and got my bearings. Weirdly enough, it seemed the shrieker had run back the direction I'd come with the others. Only now I was about the same distance away in the opposite direction, further into the city. Looking up, I could see dozens of faces staring at me in shock from the surrounding buildings. Even as I watched, more and more faces appeared. The whole situation made me nervous. If someone had a weapon they could throw, or even just some rocks, this could get ugly and I wanted no part in it.

"Right, shrieker, wanna head back the way we came?" I asked.

The shrieker cocked its head for a moment before turning around. I held on with my knees, but the natural shape of its back gave me a stable perch to sit on. Lace, seeing the situation under control, returned to my shoulder with a series of soft chirps. The shrieker slowly made its way back. Far slower than when it ran here to begin with. Subconsciously, I leaned forward and it picked up its pace rapidly. While I'd given it a general instruction to return, I found myself leaning to indicate that I wanted to change direction. The further I leaned forward, the faster it ran until eventually it was sprinting along as fast as it was earlier. I steered the shrieker in the direction of my friends when I made a mistake. Swerving around a large truck, a small car was immediately behind it. At this speed, we were going to run into it without a chance to stop. As I braced for the impact, the shrieker leaped, clearing the car with a series of quick flaps. I laughed out loud as we continued at the same pace. Unfortunately, as I approached my friends, a series of loud screams went up. Worried about what was wrong, I leaned forward, pressing the shrieker onward and rushed to help.

As we rushed into the spot where we'd hid before, I immediately realized the issue. Hopping from the shriekers back, I moved around it and gave its neck some long affectionate strokes.

"What are you doing?" a voice hissed.

Turning, I saw the woman who was hiding, back in place. But Claire was smiling from behind her as she moved to join me.

"He's safe, come on out."

"What do you mean safe?" the young man called. "It was eating someone!"

"Yeah, that's not ideal," I shook my head. "Either way, he's safe now."

"He's beautiful!" Claire giggled, moving up beside me.

The shrieker leaned down and turned his head to stare at her. "Oi," I grumbled, patting the side of his beak. "She's mine and so are the others."

"Yours huh?" Maiya said, coming to join us and handing me my spear.

"Please don't scare me like that," Polly whined, taking my free arm and giving it a quick squeeze.

Claire gave me a quick kiss and a smile as I turned to face the group of us coming out of hiding.

"Hey, ummm." The young man asked softly. "This is great and all, but... Do you have anything Paula and I could wear?"

I glanced around. The building we came from was a ways behind us. But there was the shopping centre itself that this parking lot was surrounding. It was far closer.

"Alright, you two, come with us and we'll help you. We don't have time to go through it here." De-summoning my shirt, he and Paula stared in shock as I offered it to the older woman. She looked apprehensive but took it and jumped when it appeared on her. "Best I can do till we get somewhere safe." Paula nodded her thanks, despite her confusion. The young man nodded and I turned back to the shrieker. "You stick by me alright? If there's any danger, let me know."

The shrieker cooed softly so I smiled and gave him a pat. Changing the direction of our group, we moved towards the shopping centre. It looked half collapsed from here, but it still had a roof in some sections. We still looted corpses as we approached. That freaked the hell out of the new couple, but we managed to explain the process and gave them some points along the way. Needless to say, by the time I was leading them into the centre, they both looked like they'd been slapped.

Inside, the building was trashed. It was obvious someone had been here, but there weren't any signs of where they'd stayed. Lace and the shrieker didn't seem to be bothered by anything, so I led the group into the first empty room. It was a store at some point and looked like they sold running shoes. Not that there was much left other than the plastic, rubberized soles.

"Some of these would have been nice," Claire sighed, standing beside me.

I nodded and gave her a small nudge, "Think you can handle the newbies? I'm going to scope this place out a bit. It's also afternoon and we've barely made it anywhere, so we may as well set up for the night."

"Yeah, I'll get on it. But I don't like you going alone," she grumbled.

I grinned, "I won't go anywhere I can't take the shrieker."

Claire nodded, "Sarge."

"What?"

"Call him Sarge."

I laughed softly, "Alright, Sarge it is."

As I said the word, the shrieker bobbed its head and made another coo, catching the attention of everyone else. I just laughed and waved for it to follow as I headed out. What I didn't expect was for Corrine to dart up beside me.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Mhm," she said softly. "Thought you could use the company."

"Fair enough," I nodded. "Stick close, stay quiet and give me a tap if you spot anything."

"Anything like what?" She asked as we headed into the main hall of the building.

"Anything. People, monsters, loot boxes."

"There's a guy staring at us from over there," she said, pointing.

I turned my head to see a face pull back into a store. I'd been looking into the stores we passed and had completely missed him up the end. It was the last store on the left before a section of the room collapsed. I could see light from the hole and wondered if we could access the roof.

"Alright, Sarge. No killing unless they attack first, okay?"

Sarge cooed once and shook his feathers. Honestly, if I had twenty like him, we could cover so much more ground than on foot. But that was food for later thought. For now, I needed to check on some survivors. As we approached the store, I could hear soft, but urgent voices as several people seemed to be arguing in hushed whispers. I slowed our pace and gave the wall some space as we stepped around into view. As we did, I could clearly see two men shove something into a back room, before turning to face me.

"Who are you?" the first one demanded, before spotting Sarge as the shrieker moved up to stand in front of me.

The two men were dressed the same as us. They had the remnants of a fire going and there were three bags out on the floor. Considering three bags and they'd clearly shoved someone into the back room, I was already expecting trouble.

"Who's in the back room?" I called.

"Nobody, just us," the first man said firmly.

"Three bags?"

"I've got two," the first said.

I nodded, "alright, pick up your bags."

The two men eyed me seriously as they stepped forward. I heard a soft thump from the back room and one of them coughed a moment later to try and hide it. The one who claimed to have two bags, put the first on in a flash. The second man did the same. But as the first man reached 'his' second bag, he frowned for a moment.

"Go on," I said, pointing my spear at it. "Pick it up."

"I... Uh," he frowned, clearly giving it a couple tugs while it remained unmoved on the floor. "What's this all about, man?"

"Who's in the back room?" I said, narrowing my eyes. They both just stared at me without replying, so I took a deep breath. "WHOEVER'S IN THE BACK ROOM COME OUT!"

A soft scuffle made the men flinch, before a feminine voice called, "HELP!"

"Sarge, kill!" I snapped.

In an instant, Sarge shrieked and rushed the first man. He managed to get his dagger in his hand, but could do nothing as the large bird slammed him into the ground. The second man on the other hand, drew a sword and swung it like a baseball bat. It seemed awkward in his hands and I was able to evade him quickly. What I wasn't expecting, was for a dagger to slam into his chest from over my shoulder. Turning, I saw Corrine, staring in shock from the position she was in after throwing it. I put the thought aside for a moment and looked at Sarge who had just torn off the man's head. I frowned, thinking about him re-spawning somewhere. I gave his head a look to make sure I had him memorised before looking at the doorway.