Following the runner towards the wreckage of Orr Hall was a quiet affair. Everyone was concentrating on their movements as they tried to reach the ruins quickly.
The distance they needed to cross was minimal. A crowd was gathered around the remains of the crumbled building. They were milling about and glancing around. Edwin noticed that more than a few carried improvised weaponry. With only about two dozen real weapons scavenged, everyone else was left to be creative. Bats, hockey sticks, hammers, and metal pipes were the more common implements.
Ava stood on a clear patch of the staircase leading to the doorway. She was looking off into the distance towards the hospital where they had left Thomas. For a moment Edwin considered that she might be worried for him, Thomas had not been in the best condition when they left him there. Edwin shook his head, he must have really been thrown off by what the runner had told him as if Ava was concerned about Thomas’s welfare. Rather, she was probably missing his presence as a loyal lackey.
She turned and spotted them as they drew nearer. Stepping down from her post, Ava moved through the parting crowd to greet them. Edwin noticed they did not give him or Zoey nearly as much room as they did Ava.
Ava had a somber expression as she greeted them. She explained the situation briefly and asked Edwin if there was anything he might be able to do. He shrugged his shoulders, honestly unsure. She accepted his words and then moved through the wreckage of the lobby towards the staircase into the basement. She led him down the stairs, Zoey had opted to remain above as there was not anything she could do to help.
Edwin carefully watched his footing as they passed by someone holding a lit lantern. The light revealed debris everywhere on the stairs which made their passage dangerous for his distracting thoughts. A bent metal door frame lay in wait at the bottom of the stairs and Edwin noticed that both of the heavy doors had been warped and knocked loose from their frame. Looking into the basement he could see the pale glimmer of light from among the absolute destruction down here. The ceiling had caved in all over the place, huge blocks and sheets of concrete, wood, and plaster jutted everywhere. He could now hear a voice speaking. It was muffled but coming from somewhere further inside the basement.
“Maria is over there,” Ava suddenly said as they both surveyed what they could see. “She is the one who heard the screaming and came to tell us while we were still at breakfast. Apparently, her sister lived here in Orr Hall and she was searching for her earlier this morning.”
“Oh,” Edwin answered. Not really sure what to say in response.
“She found one person, it wasn’t her sister,” Ava said, her voice calm and flat. “I have not spoken with the trapped girl, but I am told she is partially pinned beneath some of the rubble. She had luck on her side though as she has enough room to breathe and move the rest of her body. She was naturally rather hysterical when we first were able to contact her. Anyway, we can’t see her as there is too much concrete in the way. A lot of it looks precarious and so no one has tried to shift any of it. I was hoping you might be able to produce the sort of miracle we need to save her.”
Edwin exhaled sharply and ran his hands through his hair. Then he shook his head and rubbed at the dark bags under his eyes.
“This is. Urgh!” He said with frustration. “I can fling around some small pieces of concrete Ava. This is an entire ceiling’s worth. What the hell do you think I can do?” He gestured angrily around.
Ava shot him a sharp look then turned towards the guy holding the lantern back by the door.
“Kurt, hand me that lantern won’t you please. Yes, thank you ever so much,” she spoke with a charming smile. “If it’s not too much to ask, could you run upstairs and make sure everyone is behaving themselves?” Ava winked and Kurt flushed before readily agreeing and rushing up the stairs. A moment later an angry hiss sounded as he kicked some debris in his haste.
Edwin eyed her warily as Ava turned back to him and set the lantern down. It flickered and cast a deep shadow across her face as she stood back up.
“I don’t believe we needed him to be privy to our discussion, yes?” She said rather petulantly.
“Ava, I don’t,” Edwin started to say. He noticed a gleam in her eye and stopped midway. “Ava,” he started again. “I can’t save whoever is down there. I can barely budge any of that. Maybe I can make a hole to reach her, maybe I can’t. I’ll try. I don’t want to make the whole thing collapse though.”
“Hmm,” Ava hummed and waited for him to continue.
“Shit!” Edwin swore. “Alright, I will try opening a little tunnel but I am not going to try more.” Edwin took his stance on the matter.
“I understand Ed. Goodluck,” she said. He glared at her before walking past her.
Edwin ducked and crawled his way towards the light. He came upon the girl, Maria, with her back to a slab of concrete as she sat on the floor singing gently towards a little hole. She startled when Edwin coughed and turned to look at him. Dark brown hair and sorrow filled eyes greeted his gaze.
“Oh, hello there,” she said a moment later.
Edwin remembered himself and greeted her back.
“Err hi. So yeah, I'm going to try and make a bigger gap to reach her,” he said lamely as the silence after their greeting started to drag on.
Maria looked at him with incomprehension. “You shouldn’t,” she warned. “You might cause this whole thing to collapse. You’ll kill her and us.”
“Uh yeah, well, I am not going to make a big hole, just one you can probably reach through, ya know? You should be able to hand her some food and water if it works. I can’t save her though.”
She did not seem to believe him but Edwin was pretty sure he could do it without causing anything to collapse. There was a block about as big as his head resting between himself and the trapped girl. It looked like he could maybe slide it out. The block did not seem to be supporting anything. He had another idea.
Edwin breathed in and held his breath as he stretched out his fist. He was cramped and kneeling down, his fist could only stretch about a foot away from his chest but he pressed his hand against the block and gave it a mental command to squeeze.
The block seamlessly started to shrink, like packing snow it compressed and compressed until it was the size of his palm. Reaching forward into the new gap Edwin grabbed the dense ball of concrete and tried to pull it out. It was extremely heavy and he had to use both hands. But with a bit of cheating by way of his skill, he extracted the ball and grinned.
A pale face peered through the hole at him and Edwin was startled and dropped the ball, it nearly missed bashing his toes. Edwin jumped away from the indent the ball smashed into the floor and exhaled in relief.
He recalled the face looking at him, dark shadows were cast across her blood-streaked face. A pair of glasses with cracked lenses covered watery eyes staring at him with wonder. The trapped girl started to cry.
“Uh, hi,” Edwin said awkwardly.
Maria shouldered him out of the way.
“Oh my god, Sarah are you ok?”
As Maria started to talk face to face with the girl she had been keeping company, Edwin turned around and crawled back towards Ava.
Ava was not waiting by the lantern, she had left it on the floor and Edwin saw no reason to grab it so he headed back up for some fresh air and whatever was next. He felt a sense of accomplishment. While he hadn’t been able to get that girl, Sarah, out of there. He was able to open a hole so that she could be kept alive with food and water. Maybe Dan would even be able to heal her through that gap. He was proud to have helped. He was ready to take on the rest of the day, whatever may come. Like a conquering hero, he strolled back down the steps in front of Orr Hall towards where Ava was speaking with Zoey.
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The crowd had spread out, some people were kicking around in the rubble while others sat around chatting. Kurt was hovering behind Ava, his shoulder tense, apparently still seeing to his duty of keeping everyone on good behavior.
Edwin's smile bled away into a grim line, his body tensed and ducked when several distinct popping sounds echoed down the road. No hisses or cracks followed, so Edwin was relieved to find he was not being shot at. The gunfire nearby however ruined his mood. Standing up he noticed everyone on alert.
Nervous glancing looked in every direction and carefree chatter was replaced with silence. Down the road, two people came into view. Both of them were hauling ass, in full stride, they spotted the crowd and adjusted slightly to bee-line towards them. As they drew closer the group bunched up and then someone said, “It’s the police!”
That exclamation was just settling into their thoughts when half a dozen centaurs came into view from the same place as the officers. When they spotted the crowd of humans further up the road the centaurs veered off down a side road and disappeared from view. Edwin felt the ground rumble beneath his feet. The vibrations increased with every second.
The officers were within shouting distance and they both started to call out.
“Run!”
“Turn around! Go!”
“Get out of here!”
The overwhelming signs of something larger approaching sent the skittish crowd into a panic. They turned tail and started to rush back towards the dorm. Edwin looked back over his shoulder and watched as several huge animals came loping around the bend. Tall jagged spikes jutted out behind them and gave the creatures a menacing appearance. Besides the spikes, all Edwin could make out was the dark brown color of the beasts. Seeing more and more come around the corner he decided he did not want to stick around to find out what they looked like up close.
The officers followed them as the group poured into White Hall and stuffed the lobby full. Shouting filled the air and people near the door started to push against the crowd, trying to fight their way further in. Worried a fight was about to break out, Edwin found his concern suddenly draining away. A very faint feeling of calm settled over the crowd, just enough to rein in the angry shouts and pushing. He turned and found Ava standing atop a chair.
“If you will please head up the stairs or into the basement just for the time being. If you are one of the defense volunteers please remain. If you officers could come here I think we need to talk.”
Now given action, the crowd dispersed slowly in accordance with Ava’s commands. The calm feeling faded and Edwin narrowed his eyes when he saw Ava sag for a moment. She resumed her poised stance and stepped down to speak with the heaving officers. Edwin sidled over to listen and speak if he felt he needed to.
“Ma’am, you need to clear out of here. Forget what volunteers you have over whatever. Those things can’t be stopped,” one of the officers was telling Ava. His partner was still working to regain his breathing. The rumbling was growing once again. Looking out the glassless window Edwin saw the herd heading down the road in their wake.
Ava must have noticed as well as she cut off the officer before he could warn her again. “Look, there is no chance everyone in this building will be able to get away before those creatures get here. So let us try ducking down and hiding before we think about striking against them alright?”
This seemed agreeable to the officer as he moved towards the pillar in the middle of the lobby and sat down heavily with his back to it. His partner joined him. Edwin walked over and crouched down in front of the pair. A dozen other people followed his lead and knelt or sat in a ring around the officers.
Tony bustled out of his office and marched over to the officers. The lobby remained crowded. Nearly fifty people were still huddled around the edges, looking nervous. Each held a weapon. It was pretty much anyone who fancied they could fight and managed to find or cobble together a weapon. Several people only had large pocket knives, while a handful bore the weapons from their trip to that airship. These volunteers were ragtag and unimpressive but if this came to a fight Edwin wasn’t going to complain about having all these people to fight alongside.
Tony whispered harshly, “What the hell’s going on?” The floor was now visibly trembling as the beasts drew near. Edwin shushed Tony with a finger to his lips.
Edwin whispered back, “Some monsters chased us over here. Be quiet and maybe they won’t find us.”
Edwin then turned to one of the nearby officers.
“Hey, what the hell are those things?” He asked.
Bloodshot blue eyes snapped to meet his. The man ran a hair through his damp hair and sighed. He looked young Edwin noted. Probably in his late twenties. The guy’s breath stank of coffee, which was probably a good sign. If the police had access to coffee they probably had access to other amenities. Maybe it was only Laramie that was affected by this whole mess after all.
The man’s partner spoke up, he looked to only be a year or two older then Edwin, maybe 25, “They’re fucking demon buffalo! You know that ranch northwest of town, outbound on the interstate? All six hundred bison got free when everything went to hell and they turned into some freaky monsters. Like someone had crossed them with a porcupine. Only worse. They split up into smaller groups and have been running all over the north side of town the last couple days. You guys haven’t seen or heard them?”
Edwin shook his head. He did not know what to say back to the officer so everyone settled into silence as the herd of porcupine bison thundered past. Either the bison could not be bothered or were not smart enough to find them. In any case, the herd just trundled along and did not stop to check out the dorm. It was dead silent in the lobby for ten minutes, until the last straggler from the herd trotted past. Close enough to two hundred bison had been part of that group, a third of the population from the ranch. They left quite an impression.
The officers seemed to have remembered themselves as they stood up once the ground settled and walked back to Ava. Edwin and the rest of the lobby crowded around to listen in. A quick discussion took place. The officers revealed that they had been on patrol to the hospital when centaurs came running down several roads. Each one had been running from a pack of bison and it had devolved into a mess.
The centaurs got caught up in a melee with people from the hospital. That ended when the bison stormed in and caused a huge ruckus by being there. The hospital had been in danger so the officers had volunteered to lead the bison away from the hospital, a heroic distraction to save the place. Running through the streets without direction had led them here by chance.
In other news, apparently, there was a roadblock set up on the interstate on the southeast side of town. Police and SWAT were there in force. They were trying to recover any civilians still inside the city. Evacuees were being taken somewhere else. No word on where that might be. Just that it was.
The officers cautioned Tony and told him he should keep his group inside and hidden until they could muster up an escort force to come and move everyone from here back to their camp. Tony agreed to their plan and sent the officers off on their way. The mood in the lobby was strange. Some people seemed pleased to hear the police would come save them, but more people seemed in doubt. Where was the national guard? If the city was filled with monsters could the police really escort them safely when they themselves had been forced to run away from the bison herd?
There was a lot of uncertainty, but Ava stepped up to reassure people. She praised them for their willingness to step forward, to volunteer to defend the dorm and cautioned that everyone should remain vigilant. More and more threats kept revealing themselves as the days passed. Only by working together and being wary would they keep everyone safe.
She said some other platitudes and phrases to bolster the crowd. Annoyed, Edwin made to leave the gathering and go survey outside, but Ava chose that moment to change topics again. She started talking about the offer the police made. It was a nice offer she told the crowd but these were uncertain times and until the officers showed up she wanted everyone to do what they could to make sure this place remained safe and livable.
She mentioned that she wanted several groups to spread out and look for survivors to bring back and for other sources of food and water. She did not outright say go and loot the town but, Edwin thought she was implying it rather implicitly. He noticed several dark smirks amongst the crowd. Tony remained silent while Ava directed everyone.
Ava threw her arm forward dramatically and said imperiously, “You all have your tasks, go now and see to them.”
Rather than scoff or jeer the crowd cheered and split into four groups. Three of them quickly set out. They swung their weapons through the air with glee and whooped as they moved out to descend on the town. Or to move along their patrol routes with earnest motivation. It was tough to tell.
Edwin was left standing there, his group was gathering a bit away from him in a ring around Ava. At that moment only Zoey sought him out. His own quote-unquote group rallied around Ava. With three new groups answering to her, Ava was definitely keeping her eggs in more than one basket.
It was strange, his group had a lot of the looted gear and himself, the powerful skill user. What faith did Ava have in these other bands? Did each group hold a skill user of their own? Did Ava have a secret ace up her sleeve Edwin had not heard about? It seemed unlikely.
Oh, he realized suddenly. That was the purpose of these groups. Ava you sly conniving bitch. She was sending these people out to gain experience and level up. Ava was probably hoping more people would gain skills as useful as Edwin’s or Dan’s.
At that moment Edwin realized something he had totally neglected. Three people in his group had leveled up yesterday. Two of them had suffered the twitching fit he was beginning to associate with gaining a skill as well. Perhaps that other guy had also gained a skill but for whatever reason had not suffered the fit? Well, the really important question he had just realized needed to be answered was.
Just what sort of skills had they gained?