The early afternoon sunlight blinded Joe slightly, but he was used to it. A faint breeze tickled his nose, bringing with it the scents of fresh grass tinged with a whiff of hot asphalt. Of course, none of that registered to Joe's mind as he was preoccupied with the roar that sounded out a city block to the northwest of the portal.

"Let's go!" Joe didn't yell, but the urgency in his voice was clear. He tried not to let the panic he felt color his voice, but Joe was sure Deena knew. He led the way east on the road by the condo neighborhood. They both moved at max speed despite their tiredness. Joe looked over his shoulder every couple of seconds and saw Deena doing the same.

The roar sounded out again, no closer to Joe's relief. They made it to the street south in record time, and Deena turned that way before Joe stopped her.

"It's too close. We can't risk leading it straight home. Follow me."

Joe took off north towards the downtown wall. He stopped a block short of the wall itself and cut east. Despite the animosity between the two groups, Joe wasn't going to engineer a conflict between the council and the last hound. There were good people in that town, and people would die if the hound changed through their walls.

Joe heard the roar, which sounded closer to the rift. He wasn't sure, but it didn't encourage him to go slower.

"Run ahead to the bridge and go over it. I'll be right behind you."

Deena didn't argue. She held onto her injured shoulder, and her eyes were slightly glazed with pain and exertion. Joe sympathized, but his vigor attribute gave him more staying power than was reasonable.

Joe ran back and forth from door to door, touching them all and smearing blood from his reopened shoulder wound. None of the houses here looked inhabited, and Joe hoped that was the case. After eight different houses, he sprinted to catch up with Deena. She waited for him on the bridge, catching her breath.

Joe took the lead, and they crossed before heading north. He doubled back and forth twice, laying scent over the area. Then Joe crossed the stream and met up with his original trail. Unfortunately, the bridge was too high to jump for how shallow the stream ran, so they went back to their trail and entered there.

A fresh roar shook the afternoon, definitely closer and accompanied by a crash or breaking glass and shattering wood. Joe and Deena looked at each other in panic and horror before redoubling their speed. It wasn't much, as the water and mud from the center of the waist-high water sucked at their feet, but they squeezed every scrap of energy they could get out of their tired bodies.

Deena went down in a spray of water, her foot having caught up a submerged rock. Joe was there a moment later, pulling her coughing form up and throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. There was a squawk from Deena, but Joe ignored it and trudged forward.

Joe's world narrowed to the sound of the monster destroying houses in the distance and the burn of his legs and shoulders as he pushed forward. His breathing was labored, and he gratefully set Deena down when she began tapping on his shoulder a few minutes later.

"I can do it. Put me down."

Joe didn't say anything, too winded to hold a conversation. They went even farther than last time, laying false trails back towards Columbus several times before he finally heaved himself out of the water. The smell of mud and mildew clung to every part of him, but Joe couldn't care less.

"One more push home. You good?" Joe looked over at Deena as he spoke.

"Yeah, I'm good."

The run back to the house was short, but they were both exhausted. The wet pants, socks, and shoes didn't help. Finally, they saw the house and felt a second wind as they sprinted home. There was no one outside, but given the noise, the hound was making to their north, it would be more surprising if everyone acted like it was business as usual.

The door opened a second before they reached it, and Mike ushered them inside. Diana and Carl were also in the kitchen nearby. Diana looked them over, her eyes lingering on Joe's shoulder and Deena's arm. She grabbed the other woman without saying a word and took her to an impromptu first aid station on the far kitchen counter.

"What happened?" Diana's voice was a whisper, but it carried in the house's stillness.

"The hound is more active around the portal."

Diana's alarm was apparent even to Joe.

"We took a very long way around and laid a bunch of false trails. That sound you're hearing is it tearing up the houses where I laid those trails."

Joe heard footsteps on the stairs, with Nik coming down from his lookout perch on the roof. All the adults congregated in the kitchen, with Nik watching out the windows to the north. Everyone's face bore the strain of the situation. Joe felt the weight of their attention and took the lead.

"It's not going away. It's not roaming. The way I see it, we either move far away from here, or we kill the thing."

"That thing is strong," Diana said, "We got lucky on the last one, and it almost killed us. We aren't that much stronger than the last time."

Joe nodded as they all sat deep in thought. He went over the options in his head for the hundredth time since running away from the portal. It was either that or panic over a giant predator potentially stalking them. Joe knew that he couldn't run from the hound. It was killing people. But that didn't mean he couldn't be a little smarter about it.

"I think we need to talk to the people downtown. If we worked together, it would be huge. There's no reason we have to do this solo."

That seemed to take everyone by surprise, and Joe didn't blame them. It wasn't his first or even tenth thought, but when it had popped into his head, Joe had almost stumbled. The thought of us vs. them had been ingrained in them since the jailbreak. They didn't need to be friends to have a common threat, though.

The conversation continued for a while, but ultimately everyone agreed they needed the help if they could get it. It was too valuable to ignore. With everyone content with the idea, Joe dropped the next bomb he'd prepared for the conversation.

"That thing is damn strong. I'll be on point for the fight, so I need to be stronger as well."

"That's what we've all been working towards." Deena said with an involuntary flinch towards her shoulder. The berries had helped, as would food and rest, but without regeneration and high vitality, she wouldn't heal overnight.

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"Working hard," Diana agreed.

"I know that. Everyone is doing great. I'm talking about something different. I'll pack a ton of water and all but live in the rift for a few days until I can level up. It should be doable, and if I only pop out for resets, it wouldn't lead anything back here."

The room went nuts. Well, as nuts as a bunch of people afraid of making too much noise could go. To say there was opposition to Joe's plan would be an understatement. Joe understood all of their points, but he'd made up his mind. He was easygoing, but when it came to him and his body, this wasn't a democracy. If he'd been willing to do what others said, he never would have come into conflict with the council in the first place.

Eventually, people wore themselves out on explaining why that was a bad idea. Joe listened and even nodded thoughtfully at points. Everyone's argument boiled down to the fact that it was dangerous and, to their eyes, unnecessary.

"Those are all valid points. I'm still doing it. Tomorrow I'll swing by town and talk with the guys on the wall and then head straight into the rift if there's an opening." Joe looked over at Nik this time. "I was hoping you could relay the information to everyone else. You're the fastest and have the best senses."

There were more arguments, but they were half-hearted. Joe didn't take a watch that night. He needed his rest if he was going to pull this off. At first, Joe's thoughts chased each other back and forth through his mind. Insecurities and doubts tried to take center stage and siphon his willpower away, but it had been a long day, and Joe was exhausted. Despite everything else, he was asleep within ten minutes.

*********

Almost everyone looked awful in the morning. The hound hadn't made a peep all night, and not hearing it was almost worse. If it was silent, it could be anywhere. Joe felt surprisingly good, the healing mana having done its work overnight. His cuts had healed to the angry red stage. They were ugly but didn't impair his movements, so ultimately, it didn't matter.

"I'm going too," Diana stood in front of Joe. "I have things to work on as well. The rift doesn't get any harder with two people."

Diana was kitted up in her gear, and a backpack accompanied two large water jugs on the counter behind her.

"Alright. I'll be ready in a few."

Joe's statement caught Diana off guard, and she looked over at him in surprise. Clearly, she'd been readying herself for an argument, and Joe's instant agreement had surprised her.

"You make your own decisions. It's not like you won't be a huge help. I wasn't going to force someone else to join in what could be a massively bad idea."

It didn't take long for Joe to grab his gear and a couple more jugs of water. Joe had his backpack, though it was pretty light. He'd left all the berries and other loot behind. If this went well, he'd fill it up pretty quickly anyway. Ten minutes later, they set out, with Nik tailing behind. He'd be the eyes and report back to the group whatever happened with the town.

The trip took longer than Joe wanted. They went south and crossed the bridge before heading north to the park. They came at the town wall from the east, and Joe hailed the guards.

"Hey, I want to talk," Joe yelled at the wall. "I need to talk to Frank. Check that. I need to talk to someone that's interested in protecting the town."

Diana stood behind Joe. Her eyes flashed silver off and on as she scanned the area looking for traps. Nik stayed back at the edges of his senses, hidden from the wall but able to carry information back to everyone at the house.

"That will take some time," a man's voice yelled back over the plywood and sheet metal between the two groups. "If your intentions are peaceful, you should surrender so we can sort this mess out."

"Tempting but hard pass. I've seen Frank's idea of justice."

Joe paused and shook his head. He wanted their help dealing with the hound. There would be a time for them to butt heads over their lack of personal freedoms. Now he needed to mend fences.

"Look, that monster needs to die. It's in all our best interests to work together and make that happen. We can all go back to being assholes to each other after that."

"What?" The voice behind the wall sounded confused and upset. Joe didn't blame him. Ultimately it didn't matter, and Joe began walking south towards the rift.

"Hang a red flag from your gates if you're gonna help. We'll reply with a flag of our own to acknowledge. The next morning we'll go out together and kill that damn thing."

Joe didn't wait for a reply. It wasn't like the guard would say anything that would change his mind or plans. They had given their message, and Nik would check in once a day to see if they ever replied. He'd hang a flag in view of the rift in that case. Joe had plans to check outside twice a day but not to leave the rift area until it was time to kill the beast.

It wasn't a great plan. Joe reflected on it for the tenth time as they came in sight of the rift. The plan was overly complicated and ponderous, but it was the best Joe could come up with. The hound had to die, but Joe wasn't willing to sacrifice himself and his friends to make it happen. It was time for the townsfolk to earn some of their safety.

The two of them avoided the neighborhood Joe had run through the day before. The destruction of a half dozen front doors and a few sagging roofs showed the damage and devastation inflicted by the monster. Joe was far stronger than a week ago but couldn't go toe to toe with a wrecking ball quite yet.

They kept running and went through the neighborhood next to the portal. They both grabbed a breather, and Joe admired an overgrown lilac bush that had just started to bloom, subtly scenting the light breeze that flowed through the neighborhood.

Joe looked around and noticed with relief that the condos were still undamaged. He could sleep anywhere, but Diana would be hurt if her home was destroyed. After a few minutes of looking, he didn't see anything, and they darted into the rift. Both of them sighed in relief as the now familiar sky filled appeared before them.

"I'm working on something," Diana said. "Mind if I take the first section?"

"Be my guest."

At this point, the first group of monsters was only valuable for their resources. Joe wouldn't miss much essence, and he'd done the same thing before. He strolled behind Diana, his backpack in one hand, ready to pack up any dropped loot.

Diana attacked the first monster aggressively, killing it outright in two swings. She was fast and surprisingly strong for her size. If Joe didn't know that she had a caster class, he would have bet on one like Deena's. The bonus attributes had allowed everyone to diversify their builds far more than anyone had previously thought possible.

On the second gnoll, Diana cut off its legs with the axe before pinning it facedown in the dirt. Joe's eyebrows rose at that one. He was used to killing monsters quickly and with maximum damage. Drawing out the fight on a crippled monster wasn't something he'd been expecting.

Diana placed her left hand on the back of the monster's head and closed her eyes to concentrate. Nothing happened, but Joe left her to it. Joe trusted that she had a reason for whatever the hell she was doing. He knew that some of his training antics had been beyond anything that could be defined as sane. Especially the poisonings. So many poisonings.

Nothing continued to happen, and finally, Diana fell forward as the gnoll dissolved into cold fire and minimal loot. She shook her head and looked frustrated. Joe didn't think he had anything constructive to add, so he kept quiet and let her think as they moved along the path.

The scene repeated itself through the first run. Diana would kill all but one of the monsters with maximum efficiency and then cripple and immobilize the last one. She would hold her hand by the thing's head until it eventually died. Her frustration was palpable, but she never said a word.

Joe killed the fox in quick order before Diana sat down to rest. Even with their new strength, the fox had enough tricks not to be worth the risk of experimentation. Diana sat with her eyes closed, her breathing slow and stable. Fifteen minutes later, she got up and started the process again.

Diana's evident but silent frustration continued to build as she continued her campaign of monster genocide. Finally, she was sitting over the last gnoll and running short on time. Ichor continued to spurt from its severed limbs, but the pumps were getting shorter. It was almost time for the monster to die, and Joe jumped when Diana screamed.

"Fucking move!"

Diana stumbled to the side as the monster dissolved into the fire. She clutched her left arm, a grimace of pain on her face. Joe rushed over, immediately worrying that she'd somehow given herself a heart attack. As he crouched over her, Diana started chuckling, though she still held her arm.

"About damn time. Let's check out that pillar," Diana said.

Joe realized then how annoying it was to see someone injure themselves and then brush it off with a cryptic statement.