I stopped with my team to tell them what I’d learned about Paul and why I was rushing off.

“I’m sure everyone is fine,” Carter said. “Bragg is there, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to the kids.”

“What if you’re just bringing them into something worse?” Andy asked.

“Look around, man,” I said. “There aren’t people walking around terrified here. Yeah, there are some sketchy individuals, but look around. No one is walking around like they could be attacked any time, which makes me wonder why Paul was so eager to get out of here.”

“If you’re going, then go,” Andy said. “No need to hash this out now.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

The tiger didn’t stir when I ran from the group.

The seven minutes it took to get to the rest of the group were the longest seven minutes of my life. The entire time I was running, I couldn’t help but worry about what was happening to those people while I was away. I knew there was nothing I should be worried about. Paul wasn’t exactly imprisoned for a violent crime. But you don’t leave someone with those kinds of problems around a bunch of women and kids. What if it was my wife and daughter?

I picked up my pace. The seven-minute journey turned into five, as I pushed my body to its limit. Determination let me ignore the weariness in my legs from the hour of combat I’d already seen that morning. I ignored the roads, vaulted fences, and weaved through the narrow gaps between houses. I exerted my mana sight to its maximum, taking in as much of the sensory input that I usually blocked out. It allowed me to avoid a large snake-like creature that was lazing in the sun next to a pool in the backyard of one house. A second time, I timed the movement around a house perfectly with the distinct mana cores of seven mana-corrupted humans as they moved West. For the barest moment, I considered stopping and putting an end to them, but I pushed past it. I had to stay on mission. And CQB against that many opponents would be dangerous without my team backing me up.

I heard the shouting before I could see the house. Three people were shouting. I identified two of the voices, even if I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. The male was obviously Bragg. One of the female voices was Susan, the pitch of her voice seeming to convey anger equal to Bragg.

Bragg’s gun trained on me the moment I came around the corner. He’d immediately taken a step toward me, placing himself between me and the two women behind him. Next to Susan was another woman, who ignored me completely as I came closer.

“Helen!” She was positively screaming the name.

“What the hell is going on here?” I asked.

“She can’t find her daughter,” Susan said.

“HELEN!” The mother screamed again.

“Yeah, no shit,” I said. “Screaming like this though is more likely to get her daughter killed though.”

“That’s what I told her!” Bragg threw his hands in the air, his rifle swinging from his shoulder slings. “But the bitch won’t stop yelling her name.”

“How long has she been missing?”

“Her mother came to us five minutes ago.”

“HELEN!” The mother screamed again.

“Where’s Paul?” I asked.

“He left,” Bragg said.

“He left?” I asked.

“What does this have to do with–“ Susan started.

“HELEN!”’

“We might not have time,” I said to her, turning back to Bragg. “What do you mean he left?”

“He said he thought he’d be safer on his own.”

“When was this?”

“Thirty minutes ago?”

“Shit.”

“HELEN!”

“That’s it,” I said. It was easy to grab the woman. She was bent double as if every cry of her daughter’s name caused her physical pain. Maybe it did. Emotional agony could do that. It didn’t help her though. I wrapped my right arm around her neck, placing the hand over my other bicep in a standard stranglehold. Five seconds later, she was unconscious as I let her slip from my grip.

“What did you do that for!?” Susan shouted at me.

“I’m going to look for Helen,” I said, “but her shouting would have only brought more trouble back here. Bragg, get her inside and everyone upstairs. If you don’t hear my voice, you don’t open the door. You got that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Which way did Paul go?” I asked.

“He said he was going South.” Bragg pointed as he said it.

I looked in that direction. That direction was Brownsville proper. There was no fucking way he’d go there, after the shit we’d told him about that place. I closed my eyes for a moment, picturing him. He wouldn’t have gone North. That was where we were, and he would have tried to avoid running into us again. So which direction would he have gone? With the streets oriented the way they were, directly East or West would be the path of least resistance.

I turned West and took off, but this time at a more measured pace. If I was right, and he had the girl with him, then the fucker would be going slowly. Even if she somehow was walking willingly, none of the little girls in our group were over ten years old. I cursed to myself as I moved down the sidewalk, my eyes picking out the patterns of the mana around me. I could pick out every pattern in a house at a glance. Of course, you can see every inch of a painting at a glance, but that doesn’t mean you can recreate the painting that quickly. All I had to do though was check whether a person – or two – was inside. Part of me hoped I was wrong about Paul, and he had just left, but another part of me thought that all the facts falling into place were entirely too convenient.

I didn’t deviate from my path, choosing to go for thirty minutes in my chosen direction. If I didn’t catch sight or any indication of their presence in this direction, then I would give up at the end of those thirty minutes. I guessed I was traveling at least twice their speed, if not faster.

I spotted people. At first, I didn’t realize they were people, the mana in their bodies was not as clearly defined as others, but there was one person in the house who had a mana core, and that was what grabbed my full attention. It wasn’t a strong mana core, but it was still there.

“Hello in the house!” I called, as quietly as I could without approaching the door.

Silence greeted me, though I could tell no one was moving.

“I mean you no harm, but I know that there are eight of you in that house. I’m looking for a friend, and I’m hoping you can tell me where she is. She’d be a little girl. Maybe she passed by here with a middle-aged man. It wouldn’t have been more than ten minutes ago.”

More silence.

“Let me put it this way,” I said. “If you don’t answer me, I’m coming in through the front door, and I’ll get my answers that way.”

There was the distinctive sound of a pump-action shotgun being racked.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” I said. “Like I said, I don’t want to make trouble for you, but the mother of that little girl wants her back, and I’m going to find her.”

“Five to ten minutes ago,” a female voice said, muffled behind the walls. “Keep in the direction you were going.”

“Was the man with her?”

“He was holding her hand and walking her,” the voice said again. “Almost pulling her.”

“Thank you.” I turned away from the doorway and kept going.

A minute later, I heard the scream. I sprinted forward, my head snapping around, trying to look everywhere at once for the telltale signs of someone with a mana core.

I saw a mana core, alright. Nine of them, in the middle of the street, around the corner.

“Fuck me,” I growled. Seven of the cores were twisted with corruption mana. Two of them were backing away slowly from the group that inched closer every second.

I rounded the corner to see Paul shove a little girl away from him and into the oncoming group of mana-corrupted humans. They pounced on her, as he fled.

The scream of rage in my throat matched the level of terror from the little girl.

I ran the thirty feet to get to the group, denial pouring from my mouth. “God, no.”

Shouts of glee poured from the group of humans as they piled on the easy prey, hands curled into claws.

My sword was out, the weapon flashing out and taking the head of one of the mana-corrupted from her shoulders. That was all I could do before I dropped the weapon and dove into the pile like I was going for a fumble on the field. I elbowed my way forward as the group continued their mindless attack on the girl. They were fighting each other as much as they were fighting me, like lions arguing over how to share the kill. In the press of bodies, I lashed out at the thrashing forms around me. I gripped one of them by the throat, crushing its windpipe in my fist before throwing its body aside. After that, I made it to the center of the pile, lifting the girl’s attacker off her and over my shoulder. She was curled in the fetal position, and I took a stand over her, my hands in a guard position.

I could feel the mana of the twisted ones around me. I could feel the clean mana, albeit small, in their cores. I could have reached out and taken the from them. I knew I could. I was stronger than them, and I could use the power. It would end the fight so easily. One of them came flying at me in a leaping tackle. I straight-armed him, jostling him roughly to the ground, while I only conceded a single step to the attack. I reached down, putting my hand over his core. I reached out with my Will. I could feel the mana there.

The mana-twisted human – what used to be a man – let out a shriek of terror, and the entire street went silent. It was the silence that broke my focus. There’s nothing quite like fighting and CQB to focus your mind, the adrenaline allowing you to process details faster than you ever thought possible. When that moment abruptly passes, sometimes it’s hard to adjust to the shift. One moment I was fighting for my life and the life of this little girl. The next moment, this creature and the other mana-corrupted humans were cowering in terror away from me.

What the hell?

I took my hand off the chest of the mana-twisted creature. It was shaking like a whipped dog and scrabbled back from me quickly, a feral growl coming from its throat.

I took the moment to do a three-sixty on my position. Paul had holed himself up in the basement of a house and wasn’t moving. None of the mana-corrupted humans were moving, aside from their heaving breaths. Slowly, I stepped over to my sword, lying where I’d dropped it. I picked it up and looked at the five enemies around us. Each of them was slowly backing away from me, while I kept my Will firmly in place. At any moment, I knew I could reach out and rip the mana directly out of their cores. I pointed the weapon at the one closest to me, and they fled. For a moment, I thought I could see something come off them. The air seemed to distort around them like a shimmer of heat over a campfire. Then it was gone, and so were they. I picked up the girl in my arms and carried her into the house where Paul was hiding.

“I have to take care of something,” I said. “But I need you to stay here and be a lookout, in case those things come back.”

“Don’t leave me!” She protested in a small squeak.

“I’m just going downstairs,” I said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. But I need someone to keep an eye out. Can you do this for me?”

That was the encouragement she needed. Her head bobbed in agreement.

“You’re very brave, did you know that?” I asked.

“I don’t feel brave,” she said.

“We never do,” I said. “I’ll be right downstairs. If you need me, just call, and I will be right back.”

“What’s downstairs?”

“Something you need,” I half-lied. “You’re hurt, and I’m going to get something to help.” When I said it, I touched the long gash on her shoulder from the attack.

She nodded in response.

I didn’t say anything else. I took a few steps down the stairs, surveying Paul’s hideout. The door was an interior door, probably had a hollow core, judging by how standard it looked for an interior door. I could see Paul’s are most clearly, the concentration of mana shining dimly. I could also make out the outline of his form, though I had to concentrate to make it out. He was crouched next to the door, his hands held together and up in front of him.

He was waiting for me to come through the door.

Slowly, I crept down the stairs. I tried to make as little noise as possible, but it didn’t matter as the stairs creaked. I saw Paul’s outline tense, even the small core in his chest seemed to constrict slightly.

I drew my sword back, preparing to breach the door and enter the room.

If this didn’t go perfectly, I could catch a bullet for my trouble. But given what this guy just tried to do, I wasn’t about to let him go.

I aimed my weapon and moved.

The thrust was straight and clean. The sword wasn’t quite long enough to pierce through Paul on the other side of the door, but if three inches of metal cut into your side along your ribcage, that’s still enough to make you feel it.

I heard a cry of pain and pulled my sword back through the wall next to the door where I’d thrust it.

Then, I kicked the door in.

I didn’t go through. Which was why I didn’t catch five rounds in my body. I waited for the gun to click empty before stepping into the room. Paul lay on the floor, gasping and holding one hand to his side. He pointed the useless gun at me as I entered, and I kicked it out of his hand.

“Hello, Paul,” I said. “It’s good to see you again. Did you miss me?”

“Mph,” he grunted through the pain.

“Yeah, this was not how this was supposed to go. I get it.”

“What will you ado to me?” he asked.

“I’m going to kill you,” I said simply.

“But –“

“Nah,” I cut him off. Literally. His head rolled on the floor.

“Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat,” I said, then I drew my knife to cut the core from his chest.

When I was done with my grisly piece of work, I looked at the body one last time before heading upstairs.

“Good riddance, you piece of shit.”