Tasha watched as Erick sprinted off, the majority of the ants following him. A large one and two of the smaller ones remained. She narrowed her eyes and gave a short whistle. The ants lifted their heads, waving their antenna in her direction, but that was merely a useful by-product of the whistle. Cujo leaped out of a nearby bush, sinking his fangs into the mandible of the single larger ant. He quickly whipped his head back and forth ripping the mandible off. Ichor sprayed as the ant let out a squealing hiss. Tasha ghosted up behind the distracted ants, pulling out a hunting knife she had hidden in a spine sheath. She stabbed down, piercing through one of the smaller ants.

  Cujo spat out the mandible and lunged again at the larger ant, catching its head in his massive jaws and crunching down. The worker that Tasha had not stabbed attempted to retreat inside the Walmart but she sprinted after it. Catching the ant just as it made it to the door she pierced its head. She whistled again a soft chirping sound that caused Cujo to drop the larger ant and come to heel. She checked the outer doors of the store, noting how the pieces of sheet metal had been peeled away. Prowling closer she peeked inside, worried more of the ants had stayed within. Cujo stood alert beside her, his nose twitched repeatedly, but he didn't alert which gave her hope.

  After a few moments of silence, she gave in to hope and whisper called. "Hello? can anyone hear me?" She waited for a few minutes and then tried to open the doors. Unfortunately, the ants peeling the panels had ruined the hinges so she had to fight with the door to get it open. A long horrifyingly loud squeal as the door finally came free ruined any attempts at stealth. She winced and paused, listening for the sound of ants approaching.

  Finally, she decided to just go in and check. The entrance area, which had been piled up with empty shelves to make a secondary barricade, was a mess. Some of the shelves looked like they had been partially melted, and one of them was ripped completely in two. Neither of which seemed like something the ants she had fought would be capable of. Her worry for Erick grew as she searched the area, finding only a few drying pools of blood.

  She called louder now, more confident that there wasn't anything else in here. "Hello? Is anyone still here? Please answer me!" after only a moment of waiting she thought she heard something. Moving in the direction of the sound, she found herself heading towards the produce section. It was where they had put the older folks and the children.

  A pained voice from the back drew Tasha's gaze. Laying amongst a pile of dead ants was Billy, his makeshift armor torn to shreds. The six-foot-four man with dark brown hair and eyes was curled into a ball, cradling the stump of his right arm. It looked as though something had ripped off his arm at the elbow joint. Blood was splattered all over him and the floor, though it didn't seem like any more was forthcoming.

Stolen story; please report.

  Tasha rushed over to him. "Billy? Billy! can you answer me? Come on, we have to go." She quickly checked him over, not finding any other wounds on him, or at least none left.

  Billy groaned and cracked an eye. "Five more minutes?" Then he winced as the pain caught up to his waking mind. "Damn them bugs, can't believe the sucker got mah arm." He lifted the stump, and they could both see that the wound was scabbed over. "Thought I was gonna bleed out for sure. Guess bein' as tough as I am mean's more'n I thought." He looked up at her, curiosity on his face. "Didja see 'anyone else? I made mah stand here, so they could run."

  Tasha shook her head, a few tears leaking out as she looked down at him. "No Billy, I'm sorry. There was some blood by the entrance, but I didn't see anyone else. We need to go, I met up with someone while searching the apartments and he drew the ant's attention for us. We need to get out of here before they come back." She bit her lip, worried about what it would mean if the ants came back quickly.

  Billy raised his eyebrows at her. "Gosh Ms. Tasha, tears and a worried look in one day? Are you gonna make it?" He smiled to show he was just joking with her, though it quickly turned into a wince as he shifted his weight. "I'm gonna need yer help gettin' up. I mighta lost a few pounds with tha arm, but I'm still a big fella to be pushing maself up one-handed."

  Tasha smiled, though she was still crying, and said, "Alright Billy, I'll crouch down and you can use my shoulder to steady yourself." she walked over beside him and went down on one knee.

  Billy nodded and placed his remaining hand on her shoulder, leaning on her to get up onto his knees, and then left himself up. He grunted in pain as he stood and then held out his hand to help her back onto her feet, which she accepted.

  "Alright, we've got to get out of here. We don't have time to search, I'm hoping they made it out the back door." She smiled at him again. "You're very brave Billy, thank you for staying back for everyone."

  Billy smiled happily at her and then suddenly looked startled. "Aw crap, did that ant take mah hand with it? I had my wedding ring in that hand. Shawn's gonna kill me if I lose it." Tasha patted him on the shoulder consolingly.

  "I'm sure he'll forgive you, I think he'll probably be at least as upset about the loss of the hand. Not sure how your back rubs are gonna be now." She said, giving him a lopsided grin. Billy coughed and then began to chuckle before replying, "Ah you're right Ms. Tasha. Guess it's silly worryin' about a ring. It just meant so much to me an' him both."

  Tasha nodded and said, "Don't worry Billy, we'll find him. You said he was visiting his parents right? They're only a few miles out of town? If they're country folk like you said I'm sure they'll be able to protect their home."

  He nodded and looked around. "Where's Cujo? Big mutt never misses a chance tah lick mah face now that he can reach it." Tasha startled and started to turn before turning back to him to say, "He's following the ant's scent trails through the building. He hasn't found anyone else nor does it smell like the ants took anyone away."

  Billy stared at her for a moment. "Ah, Ms. Tasha, how do yah know that?" Tasha just stared back at him in shock for a moment before noticing a blinking icon in the corner of her vision. Pulling it up she let out a shuddering breath before saying, "Huh, looks like Anthropomorphic Empathy leveled up."