“Ok, so I wanted to discuss with all of you our next steps.” Drew began. Per Drew’s request, everyone but Emma sat around the kitchen table.

“What makes you think you’re in charge?” Adam asked in a heated voice.

Seriously?

Rather than argue back, Drew forcibly calmed himself and responded, “First of all, I’m not claiming to be in ‘charge.’ However, I do have the most experience in surviving this invasion.” Drew paused then added. “Matt has plenty of experience as well.”

“No cap.”

“I just wanted to get everyone’s input. We have enough food and water for the next couple of weeks, but I don’t want to get complacent. Is there anything else we can use?”

“We definitely need toilet paper and paper towels. I could use some tampons, and I’d love to have more medical supplies.” Jess listed off.

I forgot all about toilet paper. Now that I don’t have a core anymore, will I need to go again?

Drew dropped the tangent and addressed her requests. “Those are some good ideas, I’ll add it to the list when we go for the next supply run. Next question, have you guys decided if you’re going to use beast cores?”

“We’ve talked about it, but we’re still not sure.” Jess hedged.

“Look, I’ve got to be honest with you. I don’t know how you can survive without it. There’s no hospital or 911 and there’s dangerous monsters everywhere. Remember what happened to Tiffany, she was bit by a snake and died.”

“Matt said she used a core already, and that's why she couldn't use another to heal herself. We should save it in case we get hurt.” Adam argued.

Drew shook his head. “I don’t know how often you’ll be able to use a beast core, but the earlier you start, the safer it’ll be for you. Just look at Matt,” Drew glanced to his right. “With his new backpack, he can easily take out ten monsters by himself.”

Matt leaned back with a smug smile, he obviously enjoyed the praise.

“Anyways, if you form a core of your own first, you can use it to heal yourself if you get injured. You won’t need to waste a core to heal yourself. You can also use it to defend yourself.”

“I’ve got my revolver, it’ll work just fine.” Adam insisted.

“Actually, it won’t. What does the barrel hold, six, seven rounds?” Drew asked rhetorically. “You’ll kill one, possibly two weasel-bears if you’re lucky, and then you’re out of ammo. They travel in packs of three or four. And if a dilo or raptor shows up? The bullets will just tickle them.”

Adam scoffed. “Aren’t we lucky we have you two here to protect us.” Sarcasm oozed from his voice.

“Damn right you are.” Matt added visibly annoyed.

Drew spoke up before another argument could ensue. “We might not always be here.”

“You gonna leave again?” Adam sounded bitter.

“Not permanently, but we might be gone looking for supplies or survivors.”

“Survivors?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, that was another thing I wanted to talk about. If you three survived for a week, I’m sure others did as well. We haven’t checked any of the apartments on the second or third floors. Since the beasts don’t seem to climb the stairs, there’s probably lots of people still alive.”

“We should be worrying about our own survival first. If we bring a bunch of people here, the food and water will run out fast.” Adam insisted.

“Adam, they’re our neighbors!” Jess responded in shock. “You can just abandon Carol like that? How about Rick and Angela upstairs?”

“We’ve talked to them a handful of times in the hallway in the last five years. We aren’t friends, they just live next to us.” Adam rebutted.

Drew decided to argue from a different perspective, “Don’t forget, there’s safety in numbers, especially if they use a beast core. It may take a few days before they’re ready, but eventually we’ll have enough people to send out multiple squads to scavenge.” Drew argued.

“What if they don’t want to use a beast core?” Jess asked.

“We can make that a condition for them to join us. That way they won’t be dead weight. We can’t afford to have people not contribute.”

There was silence at the table while his son and daughter-in-law digested his last statement. Jess looked sheepish as she realized the outrage people would have when they were forced to use beast cores, but Drew’s family was not. Adam on the other hand looked contemplative.

“I’ll do it.” Adam suddenly stated. He locked eyes with Drew and stated, “I don’t want to have to rely on you to protect my family.”

Drew stomach clenched at the harsh words, but did his best to hide his pain and responded nonchalantly. “Good, everyone should be able to protect themselves.”

Next, Jess spoke up. In a quiet voice, she said, “I’ll use them too.”

Drew fished in his pocket and displayed a few beast cores. He sat them on the table. With the crystals in view, he was surprised that his urge to consume them increased.

Don’t. It's too early. Hold off. You can do it.

He fell into the internal mantra while Adam and Jess reached out for the faceted gems. They both lifted the beast cores in their hands and twisted them around to inspect them while they gathered their courage. As they delayed, Matt talked them through how to form a core of their own. He explained the process in detail and the benefits it would grant. The warning again about Tiffany’s death cemented the decision for them.

Eventually, Adam popped it in his mouth. Drew felt the cloud of chi that appeared and surrounded his son. Drew instinctively reached out to gather it to himself, but nothing happened. Without a core, he was unable to utilize the free-floating energy. It was torture to be near it and unable to use it.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I can’t stay here.

Drew abruptly stood and left the room. He walked through the living room and opened the balcony door. Once outside, he closed the door and leaned on the railing.

That was close.

If he stayed even another second, he might have consumed a beast core himself. The last time Drew did that, his heart spasmed out of rhythm, and Matt had to shock it back.

The last thing I need is to finally get home yet die from impatience.

Drew let out a frustrated growl.

I need this freaking headache to go away!

The railing suddenly broke apart in his hands. He quickly stepped backwards in embarrassment.

I can’t believe I lost control like that.

Drew scanned the area suddenly worried he had revealed their position, but no beasts were alerted by his carelessness.

I should go back inside.

Instead he waited outside for a half hour until Matt joined him.

“Feel better?” Matt asked.

“A bit. Just frustrated I suppose. I need this headache to go away so I can start using cores again.”

“Well, don’t worry fam, I got your back.” Matt assured him.

“Thanks. I need something to do though. Every time I stop and just sit around, all I can think about are the cores in my pockets.”

“Need me to hold onto them?”

“No.” Drew responded hastily causing Matt to step back.“I think we should go door to door looking for more survivors. Will you join me?” Drew deflected.

“Like I said, I got your back.”

They returned inside and Matt slapped on his battery pack. After Drew was assured that Adam and Jess were fine from their core consumption, they removed the dresser from the front door and left. The sound of heavy furniture echoed in the outdoor hallway as it scraped along the floor to barricade the door behind them.

Drew knocked heavily on the apartment door across the hallway and announced himself. “Hello? Anyone home?” He waited thirty seconds, before he tried again. After another minute, he announced, “I’m coming in!”

His foot slammed into the metal plated door adjacent to the doorknob. The jam splintered as the door was forced inward. Drew heard a loud bang as the doorknob rebounded off the opposite wall, before even louder bangs echoed in his ears.

*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*

What felt like bee stings assaulted his chest and legs as Drew stood in confusion.

I’m being shot!

He quickly covered his face with his arms and yelled, “STOP SHOOTING!”

The shooter ignored his protests and continued to fire. However, he no longer felt the sting of bullets.

Are they missing me now?

Eventually, the assault ended and Drew lowered his arm. Now that the gunfire no longer assaulted his ears, his hearing returned and he heard the sound of someone frantically reloading behind the living room couch.

Drew raced into the room and was repelled backward as if he ran into a brick wall.

“Sorry!” came Matt’s voice behind him. Drew raised his hands in front of him to check for invisible force fields and made his way to the couch. When he circled the makeshift barrier, he saw a woman in her forties sitting on the ground, feeding ammo from a box back into her revolver.

The woman's head jerked in a panic and she dropped the last round, closed the barrel, and tried to fire on him once again. Before she could pull the trigger, Drew ripped the pistol out of her hands.

“Owww!!” she screamed in pain. She held her injured hand close to her chest and scooted away until her back met the wall.

Now that the threat was removed, Drew could finally calm her nerves. He stowed the pistol in his pants pocket and raised his hands to show her he was unarmed. “Easy. I’m not here to hurt you. I was just going door to door to make sure everyone’s ok. Jess sent me to check on you”

After a few seconds, she gathered her courage and responded in outrage, “You! You broke through my door!”

“Well, you didn’t answer when I called out. I wasn’t sure if no one was home or if you were passed out from dehydration.” Drew said reasonably.

“Of course I didn’t answer! Have you seen what’s happening outside! Where do you get off busting through my door! I still can’t believe I missed every shot! Or are you wearing a vest? Please tell me you’re wearing a vest and I’m not that bad of a shot!”

Before Drew had a chance to respond, Matt interjected with a smug grin. “Naw, I stopped them all with a forcefield!”

Drew pointed at the four large holes in his shirt. Matt did not seem to notice, so he held the bottom of his shirt with both hands and stretched it out. Once it was prominently on display, he said with derision, “Yeah, good job there.”

Matt finally noticed the holes and sputtered a defense, “It’s not my fault! She surprised me! I got the shield up as fast as I could! And, who even shoots another person with no warning like that! That’s pretty sus if you ask me!”

“Well, I think you need to upgrade the hardness of your skin next time you use a core. Just imagine what would have happened if you were first through the door.” Drew reasoned.

“I’d just heal myself.” Matt said simply.

“You think you can heal a bullet to the brain, or the heart for that matter?”

“Uh… Maybe?”

Drew just stared at Matt with a single eyebrow raised. After a few seconds, Matt relented. “Fine… I’ll make myself bullet-proof.”

Once Matt acquiesced, Drew turned to the woman and realized she had witnessed a very odd conversation. Her eyes were the size of saucers and her jaw dragged upon the ground. “H-H-How?” she stuttered.

Drew contemplated how to respond.

I should probably keep it as short and concise as possible.

“We’re being invaded by aliens. They sent out monsters as their first wave to weaken us. On the plus side, when you kill a monster and gut it, you can find a magic core within them.”

Drew withdrew a core from his pocket and showed her. “You can swallow these things to grow stronger, younger, faster, and even use magic.”

After she got a look at the gem, he quickly put it away before he was further tempted.

It took everything I had to resist, how much longer can I do this?

She furrowed her brows in disbelief at Drew’s revelation. Rather than argue, Drew lifted his shirt and pointed out the four slightly bruised circles on his abdomen and chest. “See, bullet-proof.”

She then looked down at his blood soaked bandage around his leg. “How did that happen then?”

“Ah well, the monsters outside are a bit stronger than bullets.” Drew admitted.

“So, you swallowed one of those crystal thingies and became bulletproof?” she asked in clarification.

Drew nodded.

“But… How did you even know to swallow one of those things?”

“Oh, he’s so extra! If you stick around, you’ll get to see him do all kinds of crazy.” Matt happily informed her.

“Thanks Matt.” Drew said sarcastically.

“No problemo.”

He shook his head. “Anyways, my name’s Drew, and this is Matt.”

After a short pause, she responded, “I’m Carol. And you said Jess sent you?”

“Nice to meet you Carol.” Matt snorted at Drew’s pleasantries.

Drew replied. “Yes, we’re looking for anyone who may need help and Jess was worried about you.”

Carol nodded. “She and I have talked a few times and she seems nice. So, are you Adam’s brother? You look a bit like him.”

Drew smiled. “Actually, I’m his father.”

Carol laughed.

“No really! I told you the beast cores can make you younger. I wasn’t exaggerating.”

Her laugh faded and she threw him a skeptical look.

“Yo fam, just show her your license already. It’s like your go-to move.”

Drew pulled out his wallet and extracted his driver’s license. He handed it over and watched as she looked back and forth between the license and his face. Carol turned it over and looked at the back side before she returned the card. “You’re serious?”

Drew nodded and put his license away.

“How old is he?” she nodded her head toward Matt.

“Twelve.” Drew said with a smirk.

Matt looked aghast. “Yo, don’t drag me like that!” He then turned to Carol and responded, “Don’t listen to the old man, I’m twenty.”

Carol smiled at the byplay between them and then asked, “So, all I have to do is swallow one of those crystals and I can look like I’m twenty again?” she clarified.

“Yeah.” Drew confirmed.

“Can I have one now?” she asked.

Wow, that was easier than I thought it would be.