New Titans appeared.

Sometimes one after another, sometimes multiples at once, creating emergencies my guards had to burn Specialties to get through.

Massive stoneshaping snakes tore up the road we were using to travel. Dense insect swarms poured through gaps in the walls of the battered vehicles to tear at us with poisonous bites. Bulbous hippo-sized monstrosities shot jets of acid from tubular noses. More Legoliath Threats spawned ahead of us, heading toward us down the highway, forcing our fleet to detour down other streets or go off-roading.

Right now, I had my trusty box fan blades whirring and four iron plates swinging, blowing away the clouds created by a pair of gasylosaurs. Vince, Gavin, and my guards were cutting away the tentacles of the kraken-like Titan that had wrapped themselves around the vehicle. We all had gas masks and goggles, but the gas still itched and stung where it touched skin, and I knew gas masks could only absorb so much before they started failing.

I was grimly aware that a sustained onslaught like this would push those limits.

Gavin leapt back inside, the others scrambling after him. “Go, go!” Vince shouted, and our driver hit the gas, the vehicle jolting as we drove over the impromptu speedbumps created by severed tentacles.

The body parts would have dissipated if the Titan had died, but we were wary of stopping for any longer than absolutely necessary.

“Thank God Hamlet hasn’t thrown more than three of them at us at once,” I said.

Oblivious to Ariel’s comments, Marie responded, “He’s tried. A bunch of new things spawned in a big arc in front of us and started heading over, but local defenders took them down. If he doesn’t put them right on top of us, Huntsville has our backs.”

Vince frowned, turning to look out the rear window. “How long can he keep this up, though? We’ve left a lot of Titans and Threats behind us. Those are still taking up resources, aren’t they?”

“They are,” I confirmed.

Marie shook her head. “Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t chase you indefinitely. It seems to vary based on the speed of the monster, but after you get far enough away, they stop chasing and go after whatever targets they would have had originally and people take them down.”

“Even the legoliaths?”

Marie hesitated. “Those seem to be staying focused on you, at least so far.”

“Can we-” I started, then stopped. What was I going to ask? For people to let the Titans rampage?

“Can we disable them, but leave them alive?” Vince asked. I flashed him a grateful smile. He’d known exactly what I was thinking, and exactly why I’d hesitated. His suggestion was a good one. If it was possible, it would solve many of our problems.

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“I’ll ask,” Marie said.

I was quiet for a moment, thinking. “Even if they can, it’ll take them a while to figure out. This isn’t sustainable. US-431 is coming up. That leads north, toward Meridianville. I think we should head that way.”

“Away from Huntsville?” Marie asked. “We don't have nearly as much help in that area. All the locals on our side have been key to preventing Titans from swarming us.”

“Yes, but we’ll also leave behind a big population center and what’s probably the world’s highest concentration of Intensifiers. Ariel said Hamlet would be able to hit us harder in a bigger city, so I have to imagine the reverse is true as well; heading into the countryside should reduce his available resources.”

Marie’s eyes still looked worried and doubtful behind her goggles, and she didn’t respond.

I clapped a hand on the shoulder of our driver. “Do it! Blame the decision on me.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

I turned back towards the doubtful Marie. “And you, get in touch with the Arsenal. We’ve got contacts all over the country now. Plot us a route away from population centers, and notify people that we’re coming.”

“You just want to give up on the plan to disable the Titans?” Vince asked.

I shook my head. “No. But I don’t want to bet everything on it. Plus, Huntsville is arguably the worst place to enact that plan. There are SO many Titans here. We’d have to disable dozens or maybe even hundreds, and that’s a lot of Points and Money we’d be leaving on the table.”

“Not to mention the Threats,” Pointy added. “Quite frankly, I am uncertain that disabling even one legoliath is feasible. Hoping to disable the number found within the Huntsville metropolitan area is… foolishly optimistic.”

I nodded. “It’s still worth a try, but if they manage it anywhere, we can detour and aim for that place. Heck, we could even loop around and come back to Huntsville if we realize we were wrong and that’s the best plan. Failing that, we’ll just keep moving. We’ll keep a small group of trusted defenders with us, but the rest we’ll trade out as we go.”

“What do you mean?” Vince asked.

“Anyone who can keep up stays with us, protecting us as long as they can keep up.”

“You think enough strangers will help? They’ll just abandon their homes to protect us?” Vince said.

“If it irritates the people who destroyed our lives? Hell yes, I do. Plus, this is the final stretch. We need to win this before the next Challenge, or…” I took a deep breath. “We need to win by then.”

“The next Chall- Oh. Oh, shit,” Vince said.

“Hadn’t put it together yet?” I asked.

He looked away. “There’s been a lot to focus on, Meghan. No, I hadn’t.”

Micah tensed up beside me. Damn that smart kid. I gave him one little hint, and he put it together instantly.

“Hamlet doesn’t have a lot of stuff here,” he said slowly.

“He doesn’t,” I confirmed.

“But… he has all the stuff in the Challenges.”

“Yep.”

"And the rules for the Challenges are more... wiggly. Pointy said."

I winced and nodded.

Micah's hands balled into fists. “And his bosses don't care about getting in trouble anymore, so he could… he could just fill the area with hundreds of Bonefurs. Or… or drop us inside a volcano!”

“With your abilities, you might be okay inside a volcano!” I said, trying to cheer him up.

My oldest son looked up at me, his distress clear even under his protective gear. “But… not you! Not Dad. Not Cassie and Gavin. And I wouldn’t be okay against a thousand Bonefurs!”

I hugged him. I wanted to argue, to comfort him, but... Micah knew the facts, and I didn't think I could hide the truth from him, not after that he'd zeroed in on it. “We’ll just have to win the contest before he gets a chance.”

Micah was stiff in my arms. “Yeah.”