A chorus of hysterical laughter grew louder with every newly infected NPC.

"They have blocked the main gate," the goblin yelled from his perch.

"I can't crack this door," I looked at the vast puzzle screen again as I spoke.

"The other hall," Ashley said. "I'm still out of arrows. Do any of the stalls have stuff yet?"

"Nope," the goblin replied.

Ashley moved to the edge of the stall where her minion was perched. She leaned out for a quick look. The laughter faded to a rumble of chuckling.

"Where are we going?" I asked in a low whisper.

She pointed to the other side of the room directly across from us. I could just barely see the top of the doors.

"Minion," she whispered.

"My name is Bruce," the goblin cut in.

"Minion," she repeated. "Stay out of their reach. Get to the other door."

"Great plan," Bruce said.

He leaned back on his haunches and sprang across the pathway between the rows of stalls. The goblin landed smartly on the fabric top of across the gap. He looked back over at us and gave us an elaborate bow.

Then the fabric gave, dumping him into the stall below.

It wasn't quiet. The steady rumble of chuckling spiked into a rolling giggle.

Ashley sprinted across the gap. The giggles got even louder. Their awkward footsteps slapped against the brick as they came closer. Ashley pulled Bruce up to his feet. She looked back at me. Every part of me wanted to tell her to come back.

Help me, damn it.

Here lies Mason, he was killed by a crowd of clowns.

I waved her on. At least I could make my last act making sure they got away. Best case scenario, I would turn into a heroic clown. The worst, well, I didn't want to think about that. I launched to my feet and rushed from my hiding spot. Time slowed to a crawl.

The crowd of clowns were within reach. Stark white veins clustered around their eyes and slithered out along their faces. They were close enough for me to see that the plague affected each person in their own way. The pox I had seen before came in purple, blue, and red. Some were losing chunks of hair while others had patches of dark stubble coming in along their jawline.

In the middle of the crowd, leading the charge, was the original one from earlier. The plague had progressed even further along on him. His hair was completely blue and his pox covered clothes had merged into a single piece of baggy coveralls.

My brain filed the observations away as I moved. I clenched my left hand into a fist and launched it into the face of my clown stalker. My momentum drove the punch harder than I thought possible. His head seemed to deform around my hand. Punching someone in the face wasn't a common thing in my life, but even with my limited experience I knew it didn't feel right. His skull had a squish to it like a sack of sand rather than solid bone.

The clown went ridged and fell to the floor only to bounce back into place. I stayed in motion. Another clown stepped into my path. I lowered my shoulder and rammed the creep out of the way. It let out a little giggle as it collided with a couple of others nearby.

All of the details around me blurred as I pushed myself faster. The energy bar along the bottom of my vision dropped rapidly. A swatch of garish color zipped over my head. Three more followed before I found my route blocked by a wall of clowns.

One in the middle exploded in a puff of confetti. The two beside it looked at each other in exaggerated shock. They bounced out of reach before Ashley could get another sneak attack. It wasn't much of an opening, but it was better than nothing. A slide tackle had worked with the goblins. Hopefully the same tactic would do for the clowns.

I slid across the decorative brick tiles with one leg extended. Two of the clowns had bunched up to avoid the dagger that had popped their compatriot. They tumbled like bowling pins as I crashed into them. I hopped to my feet as the two more creeps bounced nearby.

"Come on," Ashley yelled.

She dashed to the door behind her.

I kicked one of the clowns as it bounced closer to me. It sailed through the air and turned to a puff of confetti as it hit the side of a stall. The other one hopped up to its feet. I planted my foot and launched a fist at it. Muscle memory rotated my hips to add extra power. My parents definitely didn't have punching clowns in mind when they sent me to baseball camp last summer. My target was too distracted miming tears to dodge my punch. The clown bobbled and exploded.

These infected weren't as strong as patient zero.

That didn't sound right. Clown zero. Bozo the Carrier. Clown prime. Zero the Creep. Zero, that had the best fit to it.

Bruce opened the door and waved us through. He closed it behind us. I yanked Ashley to a stop once it shut. Her brow wrinkled as she glared at me. Something slammed against the door.

"We need to block it," I said.

She nodded. Bruce grumbled under his breath as he pushed against the door. I scanned the area around us. We were in another passage way, this one wasn't nearly as bright or finely decorated. The walls were wood rather than stone and were lined with small shacks. I forced my mind back to the task at hand.

Barricade now, get confused later.

"Here," Bruce squeaked. "There is a bar, lock thing."

I rushed over and slammed my shoulder into the door. It fit flush against the wall. Ashley slid the bar into place. The door bounced a few more times, but it held.

"How did I miss that?" I asked.

"I don't know," Bruce wheezed as he leaned against the wall.

"This isn't going to hold for long," Ashley watched the door as she spoke. "We need to move."

I nodded. My pocket vibrated. I looked at Ashley. She was too busy staring at the door to pay any attention to me. My pocket vibrated again. I slowly pulled up my tablet.

[500 XP]

[Level Up!]

[Level 3: 1410 / 4000]

[Advanced Class Assigned: Brawler]

[Ally Gained: Bruce. Goblin Minion]

[Class Skills Unlocked:]

[Medium Armor] [Unarmed Combat] [Special Move - Slide Tackle]

[Health: 30] [Mana: 10] [Energy: 45]