Rory had thought the fight was nearly over since the noise of battle was dying down. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Miles almost collided with Rory when he reached the entrance.

“Sorry.” He gripped Rory’s shoulder tightly. “You two need to get back inside. They’re turning up the heat out there.”

Even as he said so, lightning flashed dangerously close and they all backtracked deeper into the burning clothes shop. Fires were raging outside too, but they were a strange colour—dark as midnight but with blue glints here and there like stars peeking through the veil of space.

“What’s going on?” Rory asked, wheezing a little after the climb down.

“There’s another survivor out there.” Miles started going around the entire store, frowning at the floor as he searched for something. “He’s got a Sigil too, I think. That’s what’s causing those weird flames. But the monsters are smarter than we’d thought. I…” He looked up sheepishly. “I used up all my Mana so now I’m looking for more.”

Rory tried to see what was going on outside. The noise was furious and unrelenting, but all he saw were flashes of red and lightning-blue, interspersed here and there with blistering dark blazes. For a wild moment, he considered trying to help the combatants. But this wasn’t a fight he could help in. Not when his arthritis would turn him into a sitting duck in the middle.

“Is Viv okay?” Rory asked.

Miles didn’t look up from his search, waving a hand dismissively. “She’s fine. Nothing’s going to touch her, that’s for sure.”

“You might have better luck looking outside,” Evelyn said. “From what I’ve seen, the only way Mana gathers is like snowfall.”

“True, but I can’t focus on looking for Mana with those things outside. What did you call them, gramps? Thundershells?”

Rory nodded, though he wasn’t paying attention. Several monstrous shrieks went up at the same time as a large gout of dark flames rose two streets over. This fight had sprawled out over a larger area than he had thought.

“Aha!” Miles said, holding a few glinting flakes of Mana in his hand. “Got some. You two should bring the car up. We’ll have the Thundershells cleared out in a minute or two.”

He left in a hurry, hand already glowing with the onset of his flames.

“He’s going to get himself killed at this rate,” Evelyn muttered.

Rory almost laughed. Then he realized just how dark that had been. “You’d think, but that boy’s got a decent helping of luck on his side. Come on, let’s get the Cadillac.”

It didn’t take long for them to get to the car. Jerky yipped upon seeing them, and Truck tried his hand—or hoof?—at a bray, then coughed and proclaimed he was never going to do so again.

The sounds of fighting died down by the time Evelyn pulled the car to a stop in front of the clothing store.

Now that he was in the middle of the road, Rory was able to see just how many monsters there had really been. Thundershell corpses decorated the streets and even some buildings, most broken open with the chunks of their bodies still sparking with electricity. The damage they’d dealt was evident everywhere. Broken doors and windows, and cracked pavement and walls, all of them dyed a scorched black thanks to the lightning.

Viv walked towards the car with Miles in tow, the newcomer trailing just behind them, Rory got out to greet him. He was a tall, rugged guy, his skin the almost as dark as the strange flames he casually walked through. Deep-set, russet-brown eyes glimmered with friendly warmth.

“Hey, I’m Dez,” he said. His voice was deep. “Can’t believe my luck finding other people still alive and still here.”

Viv frowned at him for some reason. “There’s more of us than you’d think.”

Rory shook Dez’s proffered hand. “I’m Rory.” He jerked a thumb to his left. “This is Evelyn.”

Dez shook hands with the other woman while Viv turned to him.

“Did you find who was screaming their lungs out?” she asked.

Rory sighed. The sudden uplifting sensation at the victory and Dez’s presence he’d been feeling evaporated. “He died. We were too late.”

“How’d he die?”

“Burn wounds,” Evelyn said. “I think one of the Thundershells got him with its lightning. It was… horrific.”

She had a tight grimace on her face. If Rory closed his eyes, he could recall far too easily those incredible wounds. That the old man had survived so long was a testament to his strength and will.

Dez scowled and looked away. “Those screams drew me here. Then I saw too many monsters and had to stop before you guys started chopping through them like weeds.” He shook his head. “If only I hadn’t been a blasted coward.”

Rory tried to smile and patted the new guy’s shoulder. He had to reach up a little too much. “Regrets will kill us as easily as this insane apocalypse. I’m glad you made it.”

Viv nodded. Her expression was guarded. Rory knew that look all too well. She was still processing things and wasn’t sure how she felt about the situation, so she let nothing show.

“Rory’s right,” she said. “Every single survivor is a boon. What’s your story?”

Dez’s face broke into a brief smile. “Y’all mind if I tell you in a while? There are actually more survivors not far from here. Figure we should move before more of these shock jockeys show up.”

Miles snorted. “Shock jockeys.”

Rory ignored him, exchanging surprised looks with Viv, and then Evelyn too. More survivors. It was unexpected, and it boded well. If people here had survived without the need to evacuate Hillhard, maybe Evelyn’s family at the bank were all right too.

“Lead the way,” Rory said. “Though it’s going to be a tight fit.”

“It’s not far,” Dez said. “I’ll jog, and you guys can follow me in your car.”

They got back into the Cadillac and followed Dez as he went off. Rory glanced at the surrounding buildings, his unease refusing to retreat despite the good news of finding more survivors. It was unlikely, but every one of those dark doorways could be holding another monster in hiding.

Dez was right. Their destination wasn’t far. After carefully navigating past broken Thundershell corpses and taking a few turns onto a street with fewer buildings, they found themselves at a large house surrounded by tall oak trees.

“Welcome to our humble abode.” Dez said. “Ned, come say hi.”

As Rory got out, another tall, lanky guy in a white shirt and pyjamas came forward to greet them, wonder written all over his face. He was still holding his bat out like he was about to beat them with it, then he noticed that Rory had noticed, flushed, and put it behind him.

“Uh, hi,” Ned said.

Miles waved. “Hey dude.”

“Nice dog. And uh… nice ass?”

Jerky yipped in greeting.

“A donkey, yeah.” Miles turned as Truck’s hooves clopped on the ground. “Truck say hello to our new friends.”

“It’s called Truck?”

Truck brayed as if in answer. Rory frowned. Hadn’t the donkey announced he wasn’t going to bray again.

“Is it coming inside?” Dez asked.

As if to answer, Truck burrowed back into the car. That made everyone else but Dez and Ned frown too. The donkey was pretending to just be a donkey for some reason, and Rory wasn’t sure why.

Maybe there would be otherworldly repercussions if his superiors learned about him chumming with Homeworlders. He had mentioned something about his Observation License getting revoked, whatever that was. Rory decided he was going to chalk it up as yet another one of the donkey’s eccentricities.

“Apparently not,” he said, smiling at Dez and Ned.

They stared at the donkey for a moment longer. Rory rubbed his head. At least it was throbbing less than before.

“Right…” Dez tore his eyes away from Truck and the car. “Come on in. We’re not doing pleasantries outside.”

Rory took everything in as they were led within. There was no sign of damage on the building, or anywhere at all on the street. No blood, no corpses, no sign of monsters or Mana either. It was as if the apocalypse had left this place as a little sanctuary.

It was dark inside. A flashlight pointed at the ceiling off fitful light in the living room where all Dez’s fellow survivors had gathered. They kept the blinds down, possibly to prevent stray monsters from catching sight of them, though it didn’t look like any had visited their neighbourhood yet. But better safe than sorry, after all.

There was also a pile of supplies in one corner. Packs of food, some makeshift weapons leaning against the wall, flashlights, some power tools, rope, small fire extinguishers, and other paraphernalia. Looked like these guys had been busy.

Pulling free from Miles’s grip, Jerky started sniffing around everyone’s feet, then began exploring the house. Strange pup.

Dez indicated his companions one by one. Trish was a young woman with a leather jacket, a long pipe in her hand, and her blonde hair slung into a no-nonsense ponytail. Beside her stood Allen in dark T-shirt and trousers tucked into combat boots. He was constantly running his hands through his light brown hair like a nervous tick.

Sue and May made up the rest of the party, two sisters of Japanese descent. May looked very beaten up, her head covered in bandages. Rory winced in sympathy at seeing the bloodstain.

“This is Miles,” Dez said, indicating Rory’s group one by one. “And Evelyn, Rory, and Professor Vivian.”

“I know you two.” Viv was frowning again, this time turning it onto Trish and Allen. “You were in my Structures class.” She faced Dez next. “And you! Now I recognize you. You use to be in some of my classes too, though that was a long time ago.”

Dez smiled. “Right. I graduated a couple of years ago, though. Didn’t think you’d know me, professor, after you didn’t remember when we met.”

“I wouldn’t have without these two jogging my memory.”

Trish cleared her throat. “We’re in the middle of an apocalypse here. We can do the reunion stuff later, yeah?”

Rory nodded. “I’m just glad to see there are more people in Hillhard besides just us. Why didn’t you all leave with the others?”

“We didn’t make it in time,” Allen said. He looked supremely concerned at that statement. Devastated almost. Rory wondered what he had seen. “Trish, Dez, and I were taking a stroll by the local pond when things went crazy. We got caught up helping Sue after May fell down a set of stairs, and Ned here just… woke up late.”

Ned laughed nervously. “Perks of being laid-off. Don’t have to get up early for work so I can wake up later for the apocalypse!”

“We did see a lot of people leaving together in the distance,” Dez said. “But we couldn’t catch up and no one was going to wait.”

Rory got that. To the ones who’d left, it must have been either evacuate or die. Of course, they had been interested only in looking out for themselves and their loved ones.

“What about you guys?” Sue asked. There was choked quality to her voice, as though she’d been sobbing for a while and was attempting to get back to her regular cadence of speech. “Why are you all stuck in Hillhard too?”

Rory and Viv took turns explaining their stories. Once they were done, Dez shook his head in wonder.

“Y’all have fought so many kinds of monsters already,” he said. “Can’t believe you’ve made it this far in one piece. Then again, you’ve got some sick Sigils.”

“What’s yours?” Miles asked. “Your black fire, I mean. How’d you get it?”

“It’s called the Sigil of Abyssal Inferno. We were attacked by a some of those electric rock crabs—”

“Thundershells,” Viv said, voice clipped like a teacher reminding a student about the proper term for the umpteenth time.

Dez blinked, then nodded. “Thundershells. We were attacked on our way here, and I managed to kill one with a fire extinguisher from a different house. Then I got an achievement with this Sigil as a reward.”

“The rest of us didn’t get anything as fancy,” Allen said. “Just a Sigil of Stats.”

Miles nodded. “Most of us have those too.”

He would have probably added more, considering that the pitch of his voice was rising in excitement, but Evelyn butted in. To the total opposite of Miles, her expression was heavy with distress and worry.

“Look, we can discuss Sigils and whatever other madness that’s going on later,” she said, looking at everyone in the room in turn. “But right now, we’ve got to decide where we’re going and how we’re getting there. I have a family who’s stuck at the bank, and every moment I waste is another moment they might die. So, please, can we start figuring out what we’re going to do next?”

Miles looked abashed, his earlier excitement gone as suddenly as it had appeared. Jerky licked his hand. “Sorry about that. You’re right, we need to figure out what’s our overall plan.”

“Thank you.”

Rory cleared his throat. “The plan’s simple. Our destination is still the bank. The problem is that our party is now twice as big. I’m not sure we can all fit in one car.”

“There’s no way we can,” Viv said. “We need to find another one at least.”

“Woah, hold on a minute,” Trish said. “No one said you could decide our destination for us.”

“You have a better idea of where you want to go?”

“Well, we could go where everyone else is going. Did any of you hear if they mentioned where the evacuees went?”

That wasn’t a bad plan, provided wherever everyone had gone was actually still accessible given they had all been left behind. For all Rory knew, the evacuees could have been helicoptered away to another part of the country that hadn’t gone mad. Though that made Rory wonder what the national response to this apocalypse was.

“That’s all fine and good,” Viv said. “But we’re not abandoning anyone we know.”

Rory nodded. “We’re going to check out the bank, and once we’ve saved everyone there, we’ll start figuring out what comes next. And yes, that might very well be heading to wherever the evacuees are. None of you have a working radio or TV or something, do you?”

“The power’s been out since the apocalypse started,” Dez said.

Thunder burst to life outside. Rory’s heart climbed into his neck, making his breaths difficult. That boom was all too familiar.

Viv cursed as she peered through the slats of the blinds. “Those Thundershells followed us. They’re headed this way.”

“Great,” Sue said, anger undoing all the work she’d done to moderate her voice back to normalcy. “You led the monsters here.”

“I led them here,” Dez said. His tone made it clear he wasn’t about to brook any arguments. “It’s fine, we can take them. And then we’re going to move anyway.”

Viv grinned at him, a dangerous glint in her eyes that scared Rory a little.

“That’s right,” she said. “You just need to guide me to your roof.”