--=-Chapter 20: Stupid Thief Birds--=-

I gave the ER entrance a wide berth on my way to the front, but after that, I stuck close to the hospital, hoping to avoid attention from any would-be monster hunters; even with the fog, I was pretty conspicuous. I knew that Hands and his goons likely were hunting for crystals, and they had warned me to leave the hospital. Still, Hands had called me a 'rememberer' and seemed to consider me a peer of sorts; I was gambling that he and his goons wouldn't target me unless I got in the way. I got the impression that I wasn't important to him without my' shadow,' which made me just as happy to not have it.

As I got closer to the road, a commotion drew my attention, but I wasn't eager to get involved. From the road, I heard cars honking, prolonged tire screeching, and various cacophonous sounds of impact. Soon shots rang out, and my imagination treated me to images of people, desperate, suffering, alone.

I wanted to help. Or rather, I wanted there to be help. I didn't want that help to be on me.

Without making any decisions, I loped toward the road on all fours. More than anything, I needed information. If there was a danger this way, I'd rather find out before it came for me. Maybe I'd be able to help, and maybe not. I didn't exactly want to be responsible for more people, especially since I couldn't even keep myself alive for a whole day. That said, the person shooting could be Jon—or shooting at Jon.

It was a pain, but I had to at least check. I wouldn't make any decisions before then.

I kept low as I closed in, but with my glow, I doubted it was very effective. I could make out crows circling around in the fog. Only a few cars remained, most having driven off before I'd gotten close. I didn't see any movement; some had open doors, so presumably, these were abandoned. Hopefully, that meant whoever was shooting had driven off.

The crows began to caw and swooped down—as one— to disappear behind one of the empty cars.

"Stupid thief birds!" I heard a familiar basso voice say.

I'd bet money that was one of the Gremlins—not that money is worth shit at this point.

The gremlins were relatively small, and I wasn't sure one of them would be a match for even a few crows. Before I could rush out, I saw the crows flapping back into the air, a glowing memory crystal held in the lead crow's talons. Almost simultaneously, a giant form twice my size stood up. It was one of the gremlins—or, at least, it had a similar shape and the same splotchy black and white skin, with one difference. Rather than having a pear-shaped body, its shoulders and arms were every bit as muscular as its legs and hips.

"Give back!" It roared, swinging wildly in a massive swipe at the flapping birds.

I stood there, stunned at the Gremlin that now towered above me. The crows swooped at its head a few times, but then they circled and startled to fly away. It stepped onto the hood of a car, trying to chase after them. Unfortunately, when it leaped for the nearest crow, its foot went through the windshield, and it ended up face-planting right in front of me, caving in the car's roof.

I didn't dare move; I only hoped this actually was the same creature that had recognized me in the last loop.

The Gremlin looked up from where it lay, tears in its eyes, until it saw me. "Oberon." It said sadly. "Stupid birdies take pretty rock. Oberon help? Go bite stupid birds?"

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It seemed dumber than before, but its pitiful look still pulled at my heartstrings. Not that I was going to go chasing after the crows. The last thing I wanted was to recreate Hitchcock's "Birds."

Tentatively I stepped forward and patted the Gremlin on the head. I couldn't tell the Gremlins apart, but I was assuming this was one of the ones I'd met anyway. I took my notebook from my bag and tore out a page with some old doodles. I wouldn't chase down the crows, but this could be a consolation prize.

With trembling fingers, it reached for the paper; its shape shrunk as it stretched out its hand, and soon it had to scrabble forward to grab the paper. By the time it reached the page of doodles, it was back to its small size. I had to wonder if this size change was something any of the apocalypse creatures could do. If so, was it something I could do?

When I get Jon on the same page, I need to figure out some of these rules. I wondered if all the vortexes were going through time loops like we were. For the rest of the world, Silicon Valley had vanished in the span of a month. But we'd already had 70-plus days of loops. Silicon Valley might have had lifetimes to figure out how to escape the vortex. I wasn't hopeful anyone in Forest Lake could do better.

I wasn't a scientist and didn't know where to begin piecing things together. Luckily for me, I happened to know where I could find some doctors. They all seemed to have at least some memory of the loops, even if only pieces. I still didn't have high hopes we'd be able to escape the Vortex barrier; at this point, it wouldn't surprise me if the day just looped forever. In either case, I needed to better understand what was possible in this new reality. If I could change my size like the Gremlin did, I could potentially make myself look like a puppy. Nobody would shoot Scrappy-Doo.

Still. Priorities. Pants and a weapon came first.

I gave the Gremlin a pat on the head as it stared at its pictures with eyes the size of saucers and started to walk away. Without so much as a glance up, it began to follow me. I decided that was okay for now, but I'd need to find a way to send it off on its own before we went into the hospital. Having the little thing hanging around wouldn't make reacquainting myself with the people any easier. Between bullets and the Gremlin's size-changing capabilities, it could go wrong too many ways.

"I let it follow me to the parking garage, though, and it oohed and aahed as I pulled on pants and gave the bat a couple test swings."

There were entrances into the hospital in the parking garage, including the main entrance that opened onto the hospital's first floor. I didn't know anything about that floor, except that Hands was somewhere in there. Apparently, the chapel was as well, but until I took care of Slender Hopper, I didn't want to explore another floor.

The Gremlin continued to follow me as I circled back around to the back of the hospital. "Oberon gonna go hit the big birds now?" The Gremlin asked me in its rumbling voice as we neared the ER.

I answered by circling wide. I couldn't tell how the loops affected the memories of animals, but—based on their odd behavior—it seemed likely that crows, at least, retained their memories. Otherwise, it made no sense that they'd have staked a claim in the ER. To them, it must seem abandoned enough to make a good roost.

I already knew that crows held grudges for generations against people that mistreated them. They were also smart enough that I could potentially train them to collect Memory Crystals in exchange for food. I'd heard stories about people trading food for money from wild crows, so it seemed possible. Either way, I wouldn't be going in bat-swinging to get one stolen crystal.

"Oberon not gonna fight crow birds?" The Gremlin asked a little sadly.

I gestured to the drawing it still held and then toward the home it had been building the last loop. It perked back up, its triangular ears twitching as it looked where I pointed. "Husband go show wife Oberon shapes!" it said excitedly, running off, distracted from its thoughts of vengeance.

Husband and Wife? Honestly, the Gremlins were a whole mystery unto themselves. They, at least, seemed unlikely to kill me for my ignorance, which only meant their mystery wasn't a high priority.

I walked into the back lobby, my bat raised just in case Slender Hopper had repositioned absent anyone to attack.

I found it waiting down the same hallway as always. It relied on ambush to catch its prey off guard, so patiently waiting was beneficial, maybe even instinctual—assuming the creature had anything like instincts.

I was never much of an athlete, but Slender Hopper was significantly bigger than any softball, and it had leaped at me enough that I was getting the timing down. It crouched, and I drew the bat back. I wasn't in a rush this time, and I'd stood far enough from walls and obstacles to avoid hitting them.

I'd half expected to send it flying, but the bat didn't have the mass to... something, something, physics-probably.

Whatever the case, Slender Hopper flopped to the ground just in front of me, part of its maw already caved in. It was a gruesome injury, and I immediately capitalized on its disorientation, finishing it off with some overhead swings.

For once, I was uninjured, but my monstrous hands still shook from adrenaline and disgust. After collecting my nerve, I dug through the gore to collect the memory crystal. I took it into the lobby bathroom to clean the reeking gunk off myself and the stone, feeling both triumphant and gross.

This world was not made for me.

--=-

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