Drew sobered at the sight of Rick’s defunct camper as he drove off in his van. He berated himself for his inappropriate reaction earlier with the gems.

Here I am jonesing for a new fix like an addict while Rick is dead.

Drew tried to remember if the elderly man had any family still alive. Rick had told a few war stories and often ranted about politics, but had always avoided the topic of his personal life. Drew would probably never find out.

Well, maybe the cops can figure it all out.

As he rolled toward the paved road, he saw movement in the distance. He could faintly make out a large animal that charged a chain-link fence repeatedly.

The entrance to the long term living area contained a large solar panel array surrounded by a fence to provide power for the guard shack. The camp host normally lived in his old RV next to the shack, however the RV was currently gone.

Well, it looks like the camp host abandoned us.

Once he got a better look, he noticed that the beast looked different from the three that attacked before. This one was stockier with a shorter neck and seemed to have scales. Each time it charged, it would slowly build up speed and slam into the fence. It would bounce backward, recover, and then charge once again.

It almost looks like a huge armadillo with a fat head.

There were other differences of course. It stood over four feet tall and six feet long. Where an armadillo had short legs, this beast stood atop thick two feet long limbs. Drew shook his head in wonder when he realized it must weigh over five hundred pounds. How is that fence still standing?

The poles that held the fence were bent at an angle inwards, but still held strong. The strange thing was, besides the solar panels, there was nothing else inside the fence. With the way it tried to get inside, Drew expected to see someone trapped within, but the area was clear. The beast even ignored him and his van as it idled nearby.

So odd... I bet this thing has a crystal as well. Do I have the time though? I should really be getting to the police.

Drew's thoughts clashed as he debated with himself. Eventually, he decided it would only take a few minutes and left the van with his pistol in hand.

The distracted ‘dilo’ was only thirty feet away yet he continued to close the distance. Unlike gunfights in movies, Drew knew it was much harder to hit a moving target. From his time at the range, he knew he could consistently hit a 6 inch target from 20 feet away. At least he could before he was diagnosed. That however, was when he was calm and was able to take his time. If he was rushed or tried for speed, his accuracy dropped precipitously.

I suppose I should have practiced more, but who can afford the cost of ammo?

Shaking off the self recrimination, he stopped around fifteen feet away.

This is close enough.

With a deep breath to calm his nerves, he waited for the dilo to rebound off the fence. Shortly after each charge, Drew noticed a short amount of time where it was stunned and sluggish, and he wanted to maximize his chances.

Now!

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Three shots were fired into the side of the armored beast. After the shots which again ruined his hearing, Drew paused to assess the damage. To his surprise, the beast turned and roared in anger. It braced itself as if to charge him.

Shit!

Drew hastily emptied the rest of his clip into the beast as it closed. It did not even seem to notice the shots which bounced off its armored hide. The dilo was only five feet away when Drew panicked and took off at a ninety degree angle towards his van. Drew was in luck, it was unable to turn quickly he was able to escape.

Thank God I left the door open.

Drew jumped inside the van and slammed the door behind him. Before he could put the van in drive however, the door crumpled inwards and rocked the van.

Crap!

Drew panicked, threw the van in gear and floored the gas pedal. The tires spun out in the gravel drive. After what felt like an eternity, it gained traction and Drew was thrown back into his seat as he sped away from danger.

Drew looked into the mirror and saw the beast still chased after him.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Drew!

The relatively easy to kill weasle-like beasts from before had lured him into a false sense of security. It had only taken a few lucky shots to pierce through the tough fur and Drew expected the same result with the new animal. The dilo’s armor however, was not just for show. He was unable to get a good look as he fled in panic, but he did not notice any damage from his shots. Drew realized that if he wanted to take it down, he would need significantly more penetrating power.

I need a freaking elephant rifle.

The .40 caliber hollow point bullet his pistol contained provided significant stopping power. Its large size and lack of metal tip however, was the opposite of what he needed against something armored.

I need something that can pierce through armor.

A rifle with a smaller caliber round and a full metal jacket could be accelerated to twice the velocity. It would provide far superior penetrating force as all of that energy was concentrated at a point rather than a blunted hollow tip.

The difference between rounds reminded Drew of a trip to the range in his past. He had shot all day at a cast iron target which would swing on hinges when hit with a bullet. Each hit with his pistol would clang loudly and rock the hanging circle back and forth like a pendulum.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Drew did not know any better, and borrowed his friend’s AR-15 to shoot the target. He heard a clang at the hit, but noticed that the target did not swing. When he investigated, he found that the bullet had drilled a hole completely through the quarter inch thick cast iron target.

The AR-15 shot a tiny .223 round, which was almost half the size of the .40 caliber he used before. However, the .223’s jacket contained far more powder and the bullet had a pointed tip instead of a rounded end.

The hollow point rounds he used against these beasts had even less ability to penetrate than the bullets he used at the range. These bullets were designed to expand when they hit their target, which did more damage as they spread.

The PR, which pushed hollow points, claimed they were less likely to pierce through walls and hit innocent people by accident. Of course, that assumed the bullet hit a brick wall or wooden studs. Drywall would never stop any bullet, no matter what size or type.

----------------------------------------

Once he left the gravel road and turned onto US route 95 north, he was able to significantly increase his speed. However, it still took him two miles to leave the slower beast behind.

Once he was safe from his attacker, he slowed back down and fiddled with the radio. He found that his neighbor was correct, no matter what station he tried, AM or FM, there was nothing on the radio but static. She had said she heard emergency tones, but even that was gone now.

This is huge. Are we under attack? Did the US get nuked? Hopefully someone in town knows what's going on.

Up ahead, he could see the small town of Quartzite in the distance. Quartzsite was almost entirely made up of RV parks and the support businesses required for them. It was along Interstate 10 on the western border of Arizona near California. Flat dry desert with saguaro cactus and scrub brush was the only thing you could see for miles.

Drew was not sure what started the tradition, but every Winter the small town ballooned from the 4,000 residents to over a million. Trailers filled the desert surrounding the town to escape the cold in the rest of the country. Rallies and big tent sales were a popular attraction, and brought even more people to the desolate area. The surge was the reason he came here every Winter, as he would have more customers that needed solar setup.

The smoke clouds that drifted up in several places were not what he expected to see. When he reached the first stoplight, multiple cars totalled from an accident blocked the center of the road. He slowed down as he approached, but saw no survivors.

Do I stop to help or not? Yeah, people could be bleeding out, I have to help.

Drew pulled up behind the wreck and got out of his vehicle. As he approached the side of the tangle of vehicles, he had a bad feeling.

There were three cars involved in the pileup. The furthest away was T-boned from the side, presumably because the power for the stoplight went out. There was the truck that rammed into it, and lastly, the car which ran into the back of the truck. He saw the driver side door was opened on the closest car, but when he checked, no one was inside.

The truck had a crumpled front end and the front windshield was shattered, however it was still held together in a spider web-like pattern. The airbag had deployed and he saw a few drops of blood against the white balloon, but nothing serious. So far, both vehicles were empty.

He circled around the last car and his fear came true. An armored beast wedged its head and arms through the broken window and feasted on a body within the car. He could only see the rear-end of the dillo sticking out of the driver-side window, but he could hear the sounds as it tore into a body inside.

Oh crap…

His heart began to race as he slowly backed away and tried to avoid making any noise.

I’m so glad I didn’t call out to see if anyone needed help.

Once he was far enough away, he quickly ran back to the safety of his van.

These things are everywhere. What do I do now?

His plan to ask for help just became much more difficult. He had no clue where the sheriff’s office was, what was going on, and why there were weird animals everywhere that attacked and ate humans.

Is this happening everywhere? Dear Lord, I hope not. Maybe if I get far enough away from here I can find some help?

Drew roughly sketched out a plan in his head for his next steps. He would drive to Phoenix and see if it was just a local phenomenon. First however, he needed a few supplies. He was out of ammo and low on food. The only place he could think of that sold ammo locally was a military surplus store. He would head there first, grab some supplies, go back for his trailer, and drive out to Phoenix with the trailer in tow.

With his new plan formed, he put his van in drive and gave a wide berth to the accident. Once he was past, he slowly increased his speed. As much as he wanted to floor the gas pedal, the noise might still alert the wild animal, so he proceeded with caution.

He crossed over the expressway and gazed out over the asphalt. Drew did not see a single person on Interstate 10.

What? There’s always someone driving on the expressway. Just what is happening? Where is everyone?

As Drew approached the next intersection, he saw more wrecked vehicles in the middle of the road. In the distance, he saw a truck speed away, chased by a ‘weasel-bear’. His heart rate spiked as he realized how easily he could die here. Who knew how many others had already died from this freakish invasion.

Luckily, Quartzite was a small town and there were only so many routes. The military surplus store was only a block away. He continued to roll cautiously through the streets, and gave any parked or wrecked vehicles a wide berth. Every time he passed a wreck, he prayed that he would be ignored by anything inside.

Against all odds, he avoided any attacks and made it to the storefront. He let the van idle in the street with the door open and quietly approached the building. The glass door was shattered and bloody drag stains littered the concrete entrance.

I really wish I had my pistol right now. This is gonna come down to luck. If there’s a beast in the store, I'm dead, if it's empty, I’ll live. Simple as that.

Drew winced as he walked over the broken glass.

*crunch* *crunch*

The loud noise echoed off the walls. His heart pumped so loudly, he felt like it could be heard from across the room. He began to take slow deep breaths to calm himself as he quietly made his way into the room.

The first shelf had a hunting knife and sheath which could have a belt threaded through it. He grabbed it and continued on. Next he found a large wilderness backpack with a hip belt. He opened up the top zipper, dropped the knife in, and filled it with MREs further down the aisle.

MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat, were notoriously salty. The food within was dehydrated and placed in vacuum sealed packages which were shelf stable. You could eat the meal cold of course, or if you wanted to warm it up, you could add water to a plastic packet full of some chemical which heated up very quickly without flame or smoke. They were very convenient for a backpacker or soldier.

Next, he made his way over to the guns and ammo section. Boxes of .40 caliber rounds were of course a necessity. He dropped multiple in his pack before he moved on to the rifles behind the counter.

He scanned the selection, and immediately discounted any bolt action rifles. Drew was not a sniper, and would not be hunting for sport. He needed to defend himself and absolutely destroy anything that attacked him. That meant he needed a semi-automatic. He would prefer a fully automatic weapon, but they required special permits from the government and were hard to find.

I doubt they will have any of those here. Should I go with the .223, or the .308?

There was a debate among enthusiasts as to which was better, higher velocity or greater mass. Either choice was far superior to a pistol however. The .223 caliber round would penetrate easier, but was also 50% smaller than the .308 caliber.

I wish this place had a Barrett .50 caliber rifle, but I guess I’ll have to make due with a 308.

He grabbed a few boxes of .308 armor piercing rounds while he contemplated a solution for his next problem. The rifle he wanted, a Springfield M1A SOCOM 16 CQB Rifle, was perfect for him. It had a 10 round clip, was a shorter length, semi-automatic, and honestly, just looked badass.

The problem, however, was that it was locked behind glass like the rest of the rifles. Sure, he could break the glass, but how loud would that be and what would the noise attract?

Now that I think about it, I need to load my pistol.

He took the time to load the 9-round magazine, chamber a round, and then load an additional bullet.

Wow, I can do this so much faster now.

After he finished, Drew decided he would try the silent method and pry open the case with his knife.

A few frustration filled minutes later, he decided the quiet way would not work. Drew knew what he was about to do might draw attention, so he zipped up the pack, removed the tags, and fitted it for his back. He wanted to be prepared to run like hell. To his frustration, the pack had lots of straps to tighten it down around his waist and shoulders and took far longer than he would like to get it sorted.

Eventually, he was ready. Drew grabbed an axe that hung on the wall near him and approached the glass case. With a wince he swung the axe at the case with all of his strength.

*CRASH*

Glass flew everywhere, and Drew froze as he waited with baited breath for a response. Five seconds went by as Drew strained his ears.

Oh thank…

*ROOAAAR*