I stabbed into the crowd of monsters, swinging up. It cut through the Noface like butter. I nodded approvingly, turning back to look at the crowd, searching for the man I rescued earlier.

“Let’s make sure everyone makes it out of here! That goes for everyone!” I yelled at him, and the crowd in general. He gave me a thumbs up, pinning down a no face that someone else stepped on. I nodded approval, making my way through the crowd.

Monsters surrounded someone on my right, so I leaped into action. The man jumped backwards as my sword stabbed through the nofaces chest, and it collapsed. He nodded at me shakily as he continued to beat back the monster— he had a brief case.

“Everyone! Open the brief cases if you have them!” I said. “They contain weapons!”

It was a best guess— the drunk man had appeared with brass knuckles, mine had contained a sword— it was likely they all did, prepped with materials for the game. Several people stepped back from the fighting, opening the brief cases, but most of them had been left behind when the fighting started. People rushed to them, opening them, and all kinds of weapons fell out, from knives and other swords, to batons, to even a bow. But there were no guns, notably.

While most of the people here were stressed, it was less so, now, and I moved in and out of the crowd, helping direct people as they found their footing, killing the monsters.

We had thinned the herd of monsters significantly by the next time I took a look around.

“Does any one else still need five tokens?” I asked, searching the crowd. There was a man crying, who looked at me with a muffled cry. I nodded at him. “Don’t worry.” I said as I jogged up. We will get you your tokens. I looked between him and the tool booth. A small pile of bodies had built up there— probably more people who tried to cross without paying. I couldn’t say I really blamed them for trying. Not everyone is ready to fight monsters on a seconds notice. “Stay here for a second.”

I stepped forward, finding one of the straggling monsters, and swiping. My sword play was anything but practiced— at most, I had tried fencing once with a friend from highschool, and that was nothing like this— but these things were soft. It was like they were made of paper mache.

I swung again, taking the forearm, and then I grabbed the zombie by the back of its head, kicking it towards the crying man. He wasn’t sobbing anymore, which was good.

“Kill it.” He was timid, raising his foot and stepping— not hard enough. They were soft, but not that soft, and it took him a good few tries but soon the tearful expression on his face turned to one of anger, and he was stomping the thing to bits.

Then he was a lot more active.

I moved around the crowd, helping people secure their tokens, picking off stragglers where I could. I was stepping into the crowd of monsters again when I realized someone was shouting at me.

“Did you hear me? I said we’re good! Everyone has five tokens!” He said. It was the man from the beginning.

I looked down at my token counter, then back up to the monsters.

“Don’t you guys realize? Our token count is still going up. That means there is more to gain.” I replied. “If you guys want to leave, go ahead, but I’m going to finish them off.” I scanned the crowd of monsters. There were only a couple dozen left. Several people instantly started working their way towards the exit, but I twirled the sword in my hand.

I didn’t think I would win a fight with someone who studied swordsmanship, or anything, but I was getting pretty good at cutting these monsters apart.

Several people left. But several others stayed, and we tore apart what remained of the mob of monsters. I moved, stabbing and cutting at the edge of the crowd, and it thinned further and further, until there was just one left. It turned at me, its mouth extending unnaturally, and I swung, removing its head.

I only then realized I was panting. Every inch of my body felt hot, the way you felt after destroying yourself at the gym, and I stopped to catch my breath. I looked around the room again, catching looks from the others— there was a mix of expressions. Fear— at me, or the circumstances?— awe, and respect. The man from the beginning nodded, and I began walking towards the toll booth.

I stopped, staring down the attendant. It felt like he was watching me, even though his entire face was covered by a nondescript white mask. It was eerily reminiscent of the nofaces themselves, and his head lowered as he scanned me with his eyes.

I flinched as a loud sound rang out, the kind that played when you won a game at the carnival and got the top prize. The score board in the distance shuttered, names flashing and moving up and down as it rearranged itself. My name was in position #1, with my Saviour points and tokens listed next to it. Seven of the spots at the bottom were blank now— they were dead.

The masked nodded, sliding a coin at me, under the window. On it was a face with no eyes or nose— just an open mouth, filled with rows of teeth. A noface. I looked up at him again before pocketing it and stepping through the turnstile gate. The tokens in my screen flashed, decreasing by 5, and then the interface disappeared entirely.

I turned and watched as one by one the crowd followed me through.

“Hey man.” The man from earlier, who had helped me lead the group, spoke. “So do you know what the hell is going on?” I scanned him up and down, remembering that strange codeword the man had asked me on the tram.

“Bad day for a walk?” I ventured.