“Troy!?” Mike called again.

The magician rushed into view looking a bit singed around the edges but otherwise fine.

“Yeah?”

“Check on Yunah.”

Troy knelt down next to the big man and touched the zombie Boss corpse. Whatever he was thinking he didn’t share it as he looked down into Mike’s eyes.

“We’re checking on everyone right now. I’ve got us more or less organized.”

Mike closed his eyes. A singular moment replayed in his mind as if on a loop. Helplessly he watched again and again as Yunah’s body hit the ground with such force she bounced off the grating.

He cringed and pushed the thought away. Every life was important. Not just Yunah’s.

“Get me a status update then. As quick as you can…” He hesitated, realizing he sounded commanding. Letting his voice soften he added, “please.”

“I’m on it. You should probably do your voodoo and make this place a safe zone. We don’t want to be surprised by another wave of zombies. We might need the store for medical supplies too.”

Troy was already walking off as he spoke. His voice trailed away leaving Mike alone with his thoughts.

The magician was right, completing the mission was priority one. Delaying helped no one.

Checking the system announcement he saw the boss had been a level four zombie, a Brutus. It wasn’t even a real BOSS just a regular named monster type. One they would probably be fighting regularly in time.

The thought was the worst one he’d had all day. Unlike the fast level two the Brutus had been independent thinking. It didn’t use preset attack patterns. It reacted directly to stimulus.

Worse still it had muscles dense enough to turn bullets, strength enough to bust concrete, and the agility of a professional linebacker.

Even considering the five hundred credits he received for contributing a death blow against one, Mike personally hoped never to see another.

Officially registering the mission as complete added another five hundred credits to his account. Immediately after the familiar blue of a safe zone began to glow out from the outer walls and floor of the building. In the dark basement it was enough to almost make up for the lack of the usually fluorescent lighting.

Now that the building was safe theybcould spend the night indoor on soft beds. It was funny how important that had seemed before the attack.Now Mike wondered if they shouldn’t have just slept outside.

Taking on a ‘BOSS’ blind had been a mistake. A mistake they could no longer take back. One that had cost lives. His only real comfort was the decision had not been his alone. Sharing the blame around might just be enough to let him sleep at night going forward.

Worried about the wounded, Mike decided it was time to get up.

Grunting and groaning he managed to leverage himself out from under the big dead zombie. As it fell back to the floor with a *whump* of air Mike saw the BOSS had dropped an item box.

He ignored it. There was little chance it was a healing item. Anything that couldn’t help the immediate situation could wait.

It seemed wrong to take the loot before checking on the wounded. They weren’t in a game, real people actually died. Disrespectful didn’t begin to cover it if he put his personal gain first. Besides he wasn’t the only one with claim on the item.

Mike did pick up his knife and ax, cleaned them off on the zombie’s ripped pants then slide them into their places on his gear. They were his, bought and paid for. Retrieving them was sensible not looting.

Spotting Troy huddled with Dan off to the side Mike jogged over. He purposely kept his eyes off the ground as if not seeing the carnage would somehow make it less real.

Stepping up to the huddle Mike cleared his throat and pointed vaguely at the shimmering blue walls.

“I turned in the mission. We should be safe for now.” Then looking over at Troy added a hesitant, emotional, “Status update?”

Troy scanned the ground for a few moments before looking up. Only Mike would meet his eyes. Nodding as if he’d expected no less he said, “We got f*cked up. I’m sure everyone is perfectly aware of that fact.”

Mike grunted, not amused. Troy ignored him. His round about way of talking was as much a personal thing as it was for the group. He’d never seen anyone close to him die before.

“Luckiky it seems like things aren’t as bad as they look. We only lost five people outright, Hector, Maggie, Becky, Emily…” Troy had to pause.

Mike wasn’t an idiot. He understood the fifth casualty could only be one of two. It just came down to which one. His fists clenched and he swallowed. He hated the fact he had a preference. It only made the news worse when it came, “Yunah.”

Tears fell down his cheeks but no sobs. Frankly the tears were a surprise. He’d known he was getting close to her but ultimately it had been less than a day. They were barely friends much less in a relationship.

Swallowing Mike forced his mind on business. The athletic looking brunette from Rajesh’s team should have been the Emily listed.

What happened to the big black guy?

He distinctly remembered watching as the monster ripped off one of his arms. He asked as much.

Troy gave a grim smile.

“Daruis is one tough bastard. I had to use magic to stop his bleeding. But he will live.”

Dan off to the side laughed once hysterically, interrupting, “right, ‘use magic’. He burned the dude’s wounds shut with his bare hands. It was some of the manliest sh*t I’ve ever seen.”

Troy glared at Dan who ignored the other man’s anger with a smirk.

It seemed to Mike that whatever shell Dan had been behind before the battle it was broken now. They weren’t two teams anymore.

Which reminded him, ‘where was Rajesh?’ The hammer wielding ass hid most of the fight. He needed some kind of punishment for that. Maybe delivering it would help Mike’s mood.

Troy cleared his throat adding, “Darius might never fight again. He could easily turn into a huge liability. But I don’t think he will. There are several system enhancements for missing limbs. He may not like the idea but I think Darius would make a pretty great cyborg.”

Mike imagined the giant with a metal arm and thick leather duster and smiled. The idea had potential.

“Sounds good. And Sara?” Mike didn’t even realize the group was listening to him like a leader. He asked questions and expected answers. The fact Troy had gone out of his way to provide them went completely over his head.

Troy looked to Dan who blinked in surprise at the sudden attention. Taking a deep breath he ran a hand through his unruly mat of dirty blonde hair.

“Umm, well, the girls are all down for the count. Sara lost a lot of blood. Its too early to say for now.

Maggie, Becky, and Emily all died instantaneously. The big bastard hit the cousins with a bunch of scrap metal. No aim but a lot of sharp edges. Then poor Emily took a shot to the face that took her head clean off.

I suppose Jessica will make it. But she’s in camp Darius. Her right foot got mangled bad and she lost her left eye.”

Mike swore. He’d known Sara was in bad shape. But he had assumed Jessica was safe after not hearing her listed as dead. He also noticed Dan didn’t mention Yunah…

He felt strangely grateful for the gesture though. So he didn’t mention it.

Shaking it off he said, “Cyborg parts for Jessica too? We really can’t afford to drop too many fighters at once.”

It was Troy, who answered.

“Maybe she can be convinced in time but this is all still pretty new. Psychologically it will probably be harder to get her to consider the upgrades. Guys are raised to think robots are cool. Girls are not.”

Dan shook his head defensively, “Jessica will get a new foot and she’ll take the eye too. She understands the bigger picture. A cripple won’t survive for very long outside a safe zone. She’s practical enough to see that.”

He sounded like he knew her intimately. Maybe he did. Mike didn’t much care beyond what they were going to do for Sara.

About that time a feminie scream of pain sounded further into the room.

Mike didnt so much as hesitate before he was running, cranking his light body arts full tilt, and holding his ax ready to use.

He came upon them faster than anyone expected. Rajesh had found a wicked looking dagger with black blade worked in pulsing red runes.

Without a doubt Mike knew it was the zombie boss’s drop. And he’d already used it. Darius the one armed guy was staring up at the ceiling, forever unseeing. Not far from him Jessica clutched at the stump of her right elbow.

In some detached part of Mike’s brain he saw Jessica and thought, ‘lucky she’s going to be a cyborg anyway’.

The stray thought did nothing to lessen his anger at Rajesh’s betrayal. It was too low, too despicable.

On some level he’d know the guy was a sleazebag and a coward. But Troy wasn’t exactly a warrior and he still contributed. He’d just expected Rajesh would do the same in time.

Having dispatched Darius and incapacitated Jessica Rajesh had his back to Mike as he dug through the zombie boss’s skull. No explanations were necesary.

Cold fury gripped Mike’s heart. Only in the moments after his ax separated Rajesh’s head from his shoulders did it occur to Mike he could have stopped the man without killing him.

Jessics for one seemed grateful he acted so decisively. Troy also seemed fine with his actions. Dan however hooked more like he wanted to vomit than anything.

Mike decided to justify himself. He kept it short and sweet.

“He murdered Darius. Stole from the group. And he hid during the big fight. This wasn’t complicated or political. The world outside isn’t safe. We don’t have the luxury of coddling a murderer caught in the act.”

In the back of his mind Mike was aware he’d just laid down a part of what could become their group’s operating procedure. The realization brought a sudden need for validation.

“Tell me I’m wrong?”

No one argued with him. Not even Dan who’d been part of Rajesh’s little crew from the start.

Satisfied he hadn’t over stepped his authority Mike turned to Jessica. “What do you need to stop the bleeding?”

She smiled weakly looking at the stump of her arm laying on the ground and said, “I don’t see any need in healing if I’m just going to buy a system enhancement anyway.”

“You sure?” Mike asked and as she nodded he clarified, “you can afford that?”

She gave him a strange look at the question, before seeming to realize he was offering to help her pay for the upgrades.

“As part of your party I got five hunded credits for the mission and another hundred for the Boss kill. All the genetic enhancements that would regrow my body are too expensive. But I can actually afford the lowest grade cybernetics. It will be a while before anyone calls me pretty again though.”

As if to emphasize she opened the box that appeared floating in front of her. When the robotic arm came out she jammed it against her bleeding elbow with a wince. Several black cables shot out and into her upper arm connecting the two. Moments later she was operating her new metallic fingers with a look of wonder.

From start to finish she never cried out. Mike couldn’t help being impressed by her balls.

Her new hand was on the bulky side, looking like something from a cheap 80s science fiction movie. It seemed to meet her approval anyway.

Two more times Jessica added cybernetics to her body. A bliking red eye and a pair of large metal boots that went over her damaged foot without replacing it.

As she had said by the end she was no longer the cute mousey brunette but a deadly cyborg.

Mike didn’t think her change was as dramatic as she’d made it out to be. Her eye was distracting and he’d never ask to hold her hand but her freckles were no less cute and her lips no less soft looking or pink.

Remembering Yunah the direction of his thoughts made him feel guilty for some reason. He decided against telling Jessica she still looked cute to him. Instead he looked around a bit flustered trying to find Troy.

Spotting the mage hunched over excitedly examining the black knife Rajesh had stolen he made his way over. Whatever the knife was Troy clearly seemed to think it was important which meant it probably was. Hopefully it wouldn’t lead to another mission so soon. Mike really wasn’t really up for another fight.