We thought it would take 2 days, Nashville to Winchester. Here we are at Knoxville, just under 250 miles away. Jack groans, "We have tanks and still have to scout!?" Norbert sighs, "Wish Dave and Jon didn't leave." Jean laughs and looks away from the road, "Guess you'll have to trust this new guy." Rook stares at Norbert with crazed eyes, caressing a machete. "Like hell am I trusting him." Jack turns to me, "Yeah, he looks pretty menacing." Jack scoots away from him as she slows down.

I stretch as my heart vibrates, "Show time." Rook smirks and he taps the blade up and down. We come to a stop and I step out. A couple big offices and storefronts in a big intersection. "Vamonos, demonio." I walk into a clothing store, windows shattered. Rook marches, clangs against a clothing rack, "Demonios!" Several shrieks come from the dark. A blackened man rushes towards him. I jerk my fist and sheets of stone attach, but he swings that briefcase, spins and cleaves through the thing. For someone in all that clothing and of his slim build, I did not expect him to be this strong and fast.

A big black mass crashes through the ceiling. It splats against the floor. Rook takes a step back and I command more stones to attach to me. Out the sludge comes a giant arm. The mass squelches as it drags itself closer. Jean shouts, "Diesel! Come on!"

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Rook drags his machete along my arm and I growl. I turn to face him, but he's running back to the car. I turn to it as the thing growls. I squint, so familiar. My eyes widen, giant pustules and more arms violently burst out. It shrieks and leaps at me. I punch it away and the sludge melts into the stones. I shake off the stones and back away. That isn't human. It slaps down on the downed blackened man. When it lifts it's arm, it's gone. Jaws of dead animals come out of the mass as it shrieks. I don't know what this is. "Vamanos!" My heart sinks as it continues, mimicking sounds of different animals, loud, as if to attract prey." A tentacle of sludge and bone extends out and swings at me. I duck and run after the armored car.

This thing will get bigger. They all start shouting as black sludge comes out the cracks in the ground. I roar and pick up the pace as the street cracks and erupts closer and closer. I leap on top and dent the car. Jean opens the hatch, "Are you ok!?" The sludge burns a little, but my body sheds it off pretty quickly. "Yeah!" A quick climb down and Norbert sighs, "This is Scout One! Knoxville is no go!" Copy that, crumpet boy. He growls, "You're welcome, you ass!" That's the second detour because of things like that. That thing just controlled a whole sewer system. I gulp. Are the sewers safe? Have we been driving over the demons in them ghost towns!? I shout, "Norbert!" "What is it?" "Every town, every ghost town had a sewer, places out the way. Tell them- Now."