I didn't hurry back to the hospital. It had been six loops since Nia's voice vanished, and the proto-kaiju had killed Alice and me. For better or worse, anything time-sensitive was likely already resolved. I took my time heading back, needing to practice my illusions.

The hospital was most of a mile away. If I ran, I could probably make it under that 10-minute limit for personal illusions. I hadn't done a ton of sustained cardio since the world ended—it turns out that burst-energy is more important for surviving monsters, at least in the short term—but I assumed running a 10-minute mile wouldn't be beyond me.

I couldn't remember learning the limits of the illusions, but if I asked myself questions, I was often surprised by what I could recall. I knew, for example, that making myself invisible was possible, and not even that hard. I wouldn't be able to run far, though—partly because I wouldn't be able to see—and partly because I'd attract Wisps if I used an area illusion while moving. I also knew that invisibility was a brittle, if powerful, illusion.

I didn't love that I couldn't remember the context in which I learned that, but I felt the truth of it, and I could reason out the why.

Invisibility didn't give people a way to delude themselves if they saw through it. If my hand passed through an illusory mask, an observer might do a double take, but they'd likely find a way to rationalize it as a trick of the light or a tired brain. If I used invisibility on myself and my hand passed outside the illusion and was seen, it would be harder to dismiss it as nothing. Invisibility would be better used to conceal stationary objects.

I was a little bummed I couldn't walk around as the invisible man, but it was never going to be the best use of the ability. I wasn't completely ready to write off the possibility, but it wasn't a priority. In the meantime, an illusion to appear human, at least at a glance, would keep me from getting sniped by one of the trigger-happy deputies who were running around.

The major impediments to looking human were my muzzle and tail. Any illusion I wore would have to cover them. The problem was that any illusion covering my head would block and scatter light as though real. If I made an illusion of, say, a mascot head, my vision would be as hampered as it would if real. I'd be blind to most of the world, which would make me easy pickings for any number of monsters. Also, If someone saw me and started to wonder why anyone would run around in a blinding mascot head during a monster apocalypse, it might break the illusion.

The illusions were physical in some way I didn't understand, so it wouldn't break just from suspicion. However, if suspicion made someone look closer and they saw my illusion do something impossible, like pass through low-hanging tree branches or something, that could be enough.

If I'm not careful, I could find myself running from monsters, bullets, and Wisps all at once. I didn't need a third danger to tiptoe around, but at least the Wisps were somewhat avoidable.

I decided to go with an illusion of a rubber Scooby-Doo mask. It would hide my muzzle without blinding me too much. People would find it strange but probably less intimidating than a gas mask, which was my backup idea.

There was a second-hand store a few buildings down from the art studio, and I broke in to steal some of the oversized clothing such places always seem to have. Expansive glass windows are great for display but not so much for security, especially when the police have bigger problems.

I ended up grabbing a lot more than I'd planned. I'd gone in looking for a large overcoat to cover my tail—and more of my torso than a bulletproof vest— without needing a big, clumsy illusion. I'd found a trench coat that, together with my illusion of the Scooby mask, made me look like McGruff the Crime Dog. As I moved around, the mask flopped about realistically without any conscious direction. Even knowing it wasn't real, it held up decently well to my scrutiny.

There were issues. For one, the eye holes were large enough that my canine eyes were visible—so was the occasional bit of blue fur or plaid eye mask. Still, from a distance, it should hold up. I'd have to come up with something better before I started going door to door spreading the good news—about an escape door, I mean, not Jesus.

I didn't stop at the coat. The Wisps had supposedly reset my spawn point—not that I remembered dying—which meant I'd need to set it again. That worked out since it would also allow me to add the coat to my spawn condition. Still, shit happens, and I might end up needing another way to cover up, so I opened up my Shadow door and started adding sets of clothes to the shelves in my Shadow Alcove.

I'd already stored a few necessities there, such as shotgun ammo. Still, overall, I was significantly underutilizing its storage space. After grabbing spare clothes for myself, I grabbed some clothing of a few different sizes, something that others could use in a pinch. I also grabbed a mostly-empty golf-bag that only held a few random clubs. I padded it out with other items that would make good melee weapons: a bat, a fire poker, and a hatchet. I found myself almost shopping as I looked around for things that might be useful that I could quickly add to my Shadow.

For the most part, I'd avoided looting too much since the world ended. I hadn't wanted to draw attention to myself, and my friend Jon took a dim view. I'd given up prioritizing getting through to him, but eventually, this year would be over, and one way or another, I was going to get him out. We should have been facing this apocalypse together, discovering its dangers and wonders side by side. If we were, he wouldn't let me just take stuff like this.

Still, I had tens of thousands of people counting on me. If looting made it easier to rescue people from this place, then it was probably the right choice. I grabbed a few other odds and ends—including a pair of gloves that hid my bestial hands while still letting me use the shotgun— and prepared to head out.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

My attention was brought back to the dangers of the city when I heard panicked voices from outside. There was a shriek followed by shouting, and I hurried to the window to see what was happening. A man pushing a shopping cart containing a heavily pregnant woman was being chased by a massive black bear monster.

The creature had a mane of black fur around its head and a line of more bristly fur running down its spine. Otherwise, its body was hairless and mostly maggot-white. It had only a few black splotches here and there to give it the piebald look that was common with many monsters.

Though there weren't many actual similarities, it reminded me of the illusion I'd made for Sori. I couldn't help but wonder if it was related. Was this still part of the illusion training after all? How many times had that Eye seen this scenario play out? Then again, I hadn't traveled very far from the roof of the cafe and art studio. Maybe Sori had just seen the bear monster roaming the area. Either way, I wasn't about to stand around watching.

The proto-Kaiju hadn't seemed especially fooled when Alice created its illusory duplicate. Still, if I could distract the creature for a moment, I could make another one to hide the fleeing pair.

I focused on a lamp post a few steps ahead of the chase and the space around it. On top of it, I'd place an illusion of a giant bear rearing back on its hind paws. Even if the bear-monster wasn't fooled, hopefully, it would get distracted long enough for me to drop another illusion.

With the image solidified in my mind, I imagined pressing it through my forehead and layering it over the area around the lamppost just as the pair passed. As I'd hoped, the attacking bear-monster jerked back in surprise.

In her shopping cart, the pregnant woman screamed again, and I realized she was in the process of giving birth. There wasn't time to change the plan, so I could only hope she could keep quiet long enough for me to draw the monster away.

The monster-bear let out a barking roar and swiped at my illusion, it's paw passing clean through. Thankfully, the illusion didn't immediately collapse, and I had a chance to throw up another one. This time, I dropped an illusion of invisibility on the couple. I focused toward the front of the cart, imagining a sphere of glass that would bend the light around the area. It would smother them in darkness, but in that darkness, I included a third illusion, this one of a glowing "keep quiet" sign.

The sound of the cart rattling down the street stopped. Likely, they were completely confused about what was happening, but hopefully, they'd keep it together long enough that I could draw away the bear.

Pushing my way out of the store, I rushed toward the monstrous creature. It seemed unfair that this creature should look at least as much like a werewolf as I did while also being like twice my size. Without fur covering most of its body, its limbs almost looked human, at least until you reached the giant fuck-off paws.

The invisibility was holding, but the bear had taken another swipe, and the illusion of the bear collapsed, falling into motes of green light that rained down around the post.

I had zero time left. My distraction illusion didn't buy me the time I'd hoped, and I was still too far away to further distract the monster, not that I really wanted the job. Unfortunately, the invisibility illusion wouldn't stop the sound of labored breathing, let alone any pained screams the labor might evoke. I wore the shotgun slung across my back and pulled the strap over my head to free it up for use.

The shotgun was just loaded with buckshot shells, so I doubted it would stop the bear. It would also be loud. I'd likely draw more than just the bear monster down on me by using it.

I hesitated.

I'd already wasted most of a week. There were just 48 weeks left to evacuate an unknown number of people from a town that had killed me as often as not.

The bear monster dropped back to all fours, its head agitatedly looking around, either for the other bear or for its recent prey. Its ears twitched, and then its nostrils flared. It crouched, and my eyes widened in realization.

I pulled the trigger.

The creature launched itself forward with shocking power.

The shotgun blast rang out. So did screams and the clatter of a cart being overturned.

The bear monster ignored the blast. The sheered-off barrel of the gun severely limited the range, and the shot was already going to have iffy stopping power against such a massive creature. From most of a block away, it was little more than a loud noise.

The bear wasn't distracted, and the ball of invisibility fell just in time to see the bear tear mercilessly into the latest people I'd failed.

Fuck! I swore, furious and terrified. I spun on one padded foot and sprinted in the other direction. There was no saving either of them—Any of them, I corrected myself, thinking about the baby that had the misfortune of having this as a birthday. By the time I finished my turn, the only sound left was the creature's mastication as it fed.