James slammed the breaks. Hard.

Hard enough that the screeching would’ve been horrendous had the system's voice not been that much worse.

As split second reactions went, slamming the brakes wasn’t the smartest option. James had to meticulously counter steer where he thought the road was just not run into a ditch. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t actually see the road because another booming light had followed the sound not moments later.

His hands spun on the wheel as fast as he could, course correcting to counteract the sudden forceful stop. Thankfully, among James many skills was a proficiency for dangerous driving. The booming sound of noise was distracting but James held his attention to the car, unwilling to let this sudden change in event ruin any of his hard work.

He managed it, barely.

The Landcruiser ended up diagonal on the road with a trail of burnt tire rubber behind it. James did his preliminary check to make sure his passengers weren’t to beat up from the rough stop, then blinked to try and adjust to the light and see what the hell had made such a racket.

With his ears ringing James' eyes finally started to separate colour from shape and he got a good look at what had happened.

I sorely regret every time I said this day couldn’t get any worse.

Ahead of them, strewn in the middle of the road and about as big as a small house, was a rock. A flaming, molten hot rock from space. The impact was so great that the thing had thrown the car ahead of them onto its side, crumpling part of the door. The trees and nature around it had all caught fire from the sheer heat of acceleration and friction and the asphalt around it looked to be melting.

The meteor itself looked… strange. Strange was the word for it. Almost obsidian with it’s glassy appearance, except corrupted with a hint of murky green that seemed to infest it. It also looked close to the point of cracking.

Even from almost a hundred meters way, the waves of heat coming off the thing were crushing. James could already feel sweat start to drip down his face. The spiderwebs cracks it had sent running up the road made James hesitant to even try to turn around.

I’m going to have to reverse.

His ears were clearing off the ringing now. Just enough to hear Jake’s frantic shouting as a soft echo, along with the sound of more explosions. Except none were as close. If he looked up, the looper could still see more meteors falling down to earth. There were veritable waves of them.

Focus on the small problems first.

Thinking about the mass warning the system had given out, along with a declaration that a half of them were going to die was not on the list of things that would help. Reversing was.

James ignored his more frantic passengers and swung a look back checking for Hugh-

He felt a chill go down his spine.

No.

He blinked to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, and he was sure he wasn’t. Hugh's car was behind him. But it wasn’t nearly as close as it had been. It was off the road and stuck halfway down the ditch besides it, bogged. The front of the car seemed to have suffered from impact, as the front and headlights were crumpled inwards.

The air bags had blown so it was impossible to see how the people inside the car were looking.

He must’ve done the same. Hugh must’ve been able to see his car breaking and tried to copy the manoeuvre. He just wasn’t nearly as skilled a driver as James and had been unable to fully keep the car on the road.

James for a moment, felt disembodied. His entire existence almost felt like it wasn’t there as his brain ran through all the worst scenarios. There was a chance Mindy was dead. That wasn’t the worst. There was a chance Hugh was dead. The looper… didn’t want that. Then there was a chance his little brother was dead.

That…

James felt his mind refocus. Clearly. Sharp like a razor. His placid accommodating smile was gone. He didn’t have time to placate.

“Jake.” James in a voice that was low and forceful, cutting through his ramblings.

His calm seemed to quiet the raging storm in Jake’s head for a moment.

“Yeah Jazz?” Jake responded, under heavy breaths, trying to collect himself.

He looked shaken. More so than James had ever seen. But out of everyone in the car, he was the only one that James trusted implicitly.

“Hugh crashed. I’m going to go try and pull everyone out of the car.” James said, slamming the keys to the Landcruiser into his hands. “I need you to turn the car around and start winching the car out.”

He paused, giving his best friend time to breathe. James didn’t enjoy forcing this responsibility on Jake. But he couldn’t do two things at once.

“Jake, can you do it?” James asked, voice turning colder as he pressed for an answer.

“I can, I can.” Jake answered, grabbing the keys and shaking his head as if to shake off the fear for a moment.

Then there was another sound.

“Help! Someone help!” A male voice shouted from across the road.

James' head snapped towards the sound of the voice, quickly feeling relief at the fact that it was coming from ahead of them not behind.

There was a man who had crawled out of the flipped car not far from the meteor, shouting and waving at them as he amidst attempts to try and pry open the back door. He looked injured, with wounds big and small stretching across his entire body. He was clearly trying to pull someone out of the car, and clearly succumbing to the heat radiating from the obsidian meteor.

He looked half dead and yet moved with vigour, trying desperately to get the car open. There was a softer voice echoing inside the car.

It sounded like a woman.

But James didn’t care. About him, or the woman, or whoever else was in their car.

What he cared about was the cracks on the obsidian meteor. Because they had gotten bigger. They were getting bigger.

The system said there would be a Trial for normal people. The meteors had something to do with it and a part of James had a gnawing dread that it didn’t stop at just falling from the sky.

“New plan.” James said, abruptly snapping Jake out of his stare. He had a look that was akin to pity, gazing at the man desperately trying to pull someone out of the crashed car.

Pity wasn’t something they could afford right now.

The looper snatched the key back out of Jake’s hands and pocketed them, then he opened the glove box and pried the false bottom off. There was a Beretta 92 in there which he snatched and then forced into Jake’s hands.

“This is a-”

“Gun, yep. I have those. A lot.” James said, cutting off Jake’s shock. “You see that man over there?”

He pointed at the wreckage ahead of them.

“Do you want me to…” Jake paused squirting to inspect the car. “Try and shoot of the hinges or the locks or something? To help him?”

James shook his head, almost solemnly. Jake was a good person. Even among the increasingly stressful circumstance and terrifying turn of events he still wanted to help. Still extend a hand to a stranger that was in dire circumstance. The same hand he’d extended to James in the Loop. That might’ve been Jake’s best quality.

But it wasn’t the one that would serve him best. Not here. Not now.

“No.” James said, softly. Then continued with his much more direct, firm voice. “I don’t trust someone in that desperate of a situation. If he comes near the car, or you, or anyone. Shoot him. In the leg if you have to, just don’t let him close.”

“James, you're asking me to shoot someone?” Jake said, almost incredulously.

“No. I’m asking you to shoot him if he tries to steal the car.” James said, kicking open his door. He snatched the glock out from under his wheel and fastened to the holster on his leg.

He won’t shoot him. James knew this. Jake was a social butterfly that was just maybe a little bit egotistical. There was no way in hell he’d shoot a person without a good reason. But having the gun will keep the man away from the car.

Unless Jake went to help him, which James sorely hoped he would not. Jess would’ve been the better option to give the gun, being as paranoid as she was, but James didn’t trust her. And she was also basically tied to Amy at this point who was having a complete mental breakdown.

Which was understandable.

The reparations contract must’ve kicked in by now. James thought, banishing every other worry that wasn’t making sure his family was okay.

Their safety was part of the reparations contract James had paid for with his sixteen thousand years of suffering. While he didn’t trust it, and hadn’t planned on relying on it at all, James still wanted that safety net to be there. With the system fully kicked into force, there was no reason it shouldn’t be.

Unless Archive lied.

[2:53:13]

There was no point in worrying about it. James just had to find out. With that in mind, he grabbed his tool bag from the back of the Landcruiser and headed towards Hugh.

The looper sprinted away from his car until he got close to Hugh’s. It was about seventy or so meters behind the Landcruiser. The road had a semi steep drop off down into bush and trees, which luckily the car hadn’t hit. Instead it seemed to have run off and clipped the side of the guard rail instead of smashing head first into it.

A lucky break. Likely the work of his father’s quick thinking.

James slid down the side of the road hastily. Things didn’t look good, but he could see moving in the Hilux from the side windows. The looper tried the back door first, worrying for Michael above all. It was locked. He peered deeper into the window and saw Michael lying against the seat, with the seat belt wrapped around the upper half of his body.

There was also something stranger wrapped around his brother's side. It was a wreath of golden energy that snaked around the side of his body facing where the airbag had blown, along with another wreath of energy sitting on the back of his neck.

Is that what safety means? Presumably, considering the placement of the energy, it was some type of casing that had shielded him from the impact. That said, Michael still seemed worse for wear and was barely moving.

“Michael!” James shouted, banging around the mirror. His attempt at getting his brother to move only stirred the teenager a little. He gripped his stomach as if he felt like he was going to be sick.

“Michael, open the door!” The looper shouted again, trying to get his brother to move.

It didn’t work. He didn’t have time for this. James didn’t have to think twice. He grabbed the heaviest hammer he had in his tool bag, flipped it claw side and smashed it into the window so he could unlock the door.

James ripped it open and dragged Michael out. He was breathing and he was mumbling. Is he concussed? James didn’t think so. He seemed more dazed by the alarming amount of light and sound. The looper was almost worried he might be having a seizure but once he was on the grass next to the truck, he seemed to settle.

“You alright Mike?” James asked as an aside as he checked on Hugh’s window.

“Um, I think. Was the last ten minutes real?” Michaels asked, rubbing his face. “Because that- Dad! Where's dad!?”

Michael seemed to recall the last few seconds before he’d been caught in a daze of light and sound, and tried to stumble his way up to the driver's side door. After a few goes, he realised his balance was not nearly as the walking level yet and left James to his job.

Hugh’s situation at first glance did not look good. But it felt deceptive. He didn’t seem to have any wounds on his at all, nor bruises for that matter. But that didn’t change how jarring it was for the looper to see his fathers face pressed between a headrest and an airbag that was now deflated.

James could see Mindy too. She looked worse. A lot worse. The looper still pulled his father out of the truck first. With one swing he managed to break the glass and grabbed at the console till he found the button to unlock all the doors.

I’ve got to get to Mindy. James thought even as he struggled to lug his father out. Despite suffering no wounds the same as Michael, the man seemed equally dazed. The same golden energy wreathed around him too.

Does it put them to sleep? The looper had no idea what the wreath of golden energy actually was, but he knew it originated from the reparations contract.

James set Hugh down next to Michael on the grass, struggling to not drop the man and the hefty weight he sported.

“Give him a rundown of what happened.” James directed, moving towards Mindy’s side. He already could sense he would need to administer some first aid.

“I don’t even know what happened?” Michael complained, nursing his headache.

Ah, he can’t see the meteor. The ditch was low enough down that it was hard to spot the edge of the obsidian space stone.

“A meteor crashed on the road ahead of us.” James explained.

Michael clearly wanted to ask more questions but the looper ignored his brother in favour of his father’s wounded girlfriend. James moved to her side of the door and pulled it open, careful to not let the woman fall face first out.

The Mindy James was used to seeing was a well kept woman. Blonde hair dyed by a very the only hairdresser she ever trusted every three months with sharp features and a pair of hazel eyes to match. She was a tidy woman, with a propensity for organization that worked well with Hugh’s neat freak streak.

That wasn’t what she looked like anymore.

James lifted her out of the car slowly, the muscles in his back tensing from the previous strain of moving Hugh around. His body was not used to the sheer amount of work it’d been put under. Lucky I worked in construction. Or he might have already been out of commission.

Her arms were the more grievous part of her injuries. They’d been spared the sheer impact of a crashing car, but that pain had been swapped for deep lacerations. The smell of iron and rust drifted off her so much that James almost scrunched his nose. It was a smell he was very familiar with and it was still awful;.

The rest of her seemed relatively spared. Her shoulder was bruised and her lip was bleeding as well. She might be concussed. That was also a problem, but her pulse was fine and all her other injuries were superficial.

My first aid kit had bandages, gauze, scissors, wipes and an instant cold pack. He could patch her up to his best ability with that. It might cost her the sleeves of her sleek coat, but James was sure she wouldn’t care.

He didn’t.

James got to work all while Mindy was out cold, with her head up against his emergency blanket as a headrest.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

At some point Hugh stumbled next to them, struggling to walk as he held onto the hood of the car. The looper could tell Hugh insisted he administer first aid had he been any steadier on his feet. As it was, he just watched over James like a hawk and occasionally jabbed at how he did things.

“She’ll be okay, right?” Hugh asked, unsteadily. James wasn’t used to that type of shakiness in the normally concrete composure Hugh held.

“As long as we don’t move her around too much.” James confirmed. And as long as we don’t get hit by another meteor.

“That's good mate. That's good.” Hugh said, watching James wrap gauze around her arms tight enough to put pressure. “How’d you manage to stay on the road?”

“Experience.” James said dismissively.

“You didn’t have a car till this morning.” Hugh reminded him, a little steadiness returning to his gruff voice.

“No, I didn’t.” James agreed. “After I’m done with this I’ll pull the Landcruiser around and tow you out.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Hugh agreed. “My wheel alignments going to be completely fucked.”

And that’s literally the least of our problems dad. James found it almost comical how his dad ignored the events that had preceded the crash so casually. Then, he realised his father was too dazed to properly process what the hell was going on. Of course he was. How else would someone be worrying about their wheel alignment when the sky had been on fire only ten minutes ago.

James was almost finished with bandaging Mindy’s arm when he heard it.

A gunshot.

Then something crack.

It started as one, small crack emanating from the direction of the meteor. Then it slowly continued, crack after crack, like a stream until eventually it just sounded like glass shattering. There was shouting that accompanied it. Someone was screaming, and another voice was shouting.

The voice that was shouting sounded like-

“Is that Jake?” Hugh asked, his face marred with worry as he gazed towards where the Landcruiser was.

“You think you can handle the rest?” James asked, standing. He could hear the shouts from where he stood. They were soft but the looper could make out fear in Jake’s voice. The worry that he’d had for Hugh and Michael was gone.

Mindy was going to be fine.

He tried to pinpoint the emotion that coursed through him at the sound of Jake’s fearful shouting. Frustration. He wasn’t capable of doing everything at once and it was becoming more painfully obvious with every second.

“Yeah I can handle the rest mate but-”

“Good.” James said, cutting him short and stuffing the half empty first aid kit in his hands.

The looper stalked back up to the road and towards his car. He knew even the bravest person should feel some panic walking towards their screaming and the shouts of their best friend. James felt none.

He had witnessed the safety of the reparations contract and it seemed adequately able to handle a car crash so Jake’s physical health would be okay. As for worrying about himself?

That was laughable at best.

James sprinted past the Landcruiser to where Jake was standing. There were a lot of situations the looper had foreseen. The man could’ve threatened Jake, in a manic state. He could have been begging, screaming for help. He could very well have tried to disarm Jake and take his gun.

That wasn’t the case.

Jake was standing there, by himself, shouting out towards the man. The closer James got, the more clear those shouts became.

“Get away! You need to move!” Jake shouted, waving his hands to try and get the man’s attention.

When James had left, the meteor had been a solid black obsidian rock with cracks running down it, molten on the bottom and burning the trees that hung over the road. An odd scene sure, but not nearly as disturbing as what he saw when he got past the Landcruiser.

The meteor had cracked open. A thin line down the middle, splitting into countless fractures across the thing and spewing something akin to a liquid onto the road. The burning had stopped. The dark green liquid that oozed out of the meteor like puss had stolen all the flame and was slowly consuming the road.

Not covering the road.

Consuming it.

There was a low hum of sizzling in the air that had been drowned out by Jake’s shouts until James had gotten as close as he had. Whatever the liquid was, it was clearly acidic in nature and almost ravenous in function as it consumed everything around the meteor. Where there had been bushland and trees there was now just sizzling dripping masses of biomatter.

The strangest thing about the liquid though, was the fact that it looked like glass. It had reflecting broken edges all over it as it slowly but surely consumed everything around it.

Which was exactly the reason Jake was shouting. Because the owner of the flipped vehicle hadn’t gotten the memo. He was still standing over the car, trying desperately to pull the door open and failing.

The only change to that front was the screaming coming from inside the flipped car.

“Hugh and the crew are all okay.” James said, rounding on Jake. He patted Jake on the back slowly, careful not to do it too hard because it looked like his best friend would fall over at the slightest touch. “You did good by keeping the car safe.”

The man turned to face him slowly. James had thought he’d done the right thing. He’d gave Jake what was factually the correct course of action. He’d thought that the situation wouldn’t devolve too far as long as Jake had a gun in his hand. They were good for convincing people not to do dumb things.

Was I thinking about it from my point of view? James wondered. Or did I just not expect it to change so drastically.

Because Jake looked haunted. His eyes seemed as if they pulled back an inch and been swallowed by the shadows under them. The Berreta 92 was on the ground next to Jake, and his left arm was shaking. It hadn’t stopped shaking since James had arrived.

“We should help him.” Jake said, so shallow it was almost a whisper. “He won’t get the door open by himself.”

If they didn’t help him, James could very easily see the conclusion. That man would not stop trying to help whoever was screaming inside. The looper couldn't fault him for it. The acid was close to him now, maybe another thirty seconds and it swallowed the car and the man together.

Could we get them out in thirty seconds. James could.

“Why did you shoot the gun?” The looper asked, cutting to the heart of his curiosity.

“He started walking towards the car. First it was begging, then he was screaming at me to come help.” Jake kept talking, but started stuttering the words out. “He said his name was Darrel, and that he was a person too. That I should help. But then he started threatening me and running towards the car and the girls and I just-”

He didn’t finish, but his gaze drifted to the Beretta 92 on the ground. James got the picture.

Darrel, the man in the button up desperately trying to save whoever was inside the flipped car, had been too agitated and distressed to realise he shouldn’t run towards the young man with a gun. Jake had been doing his best to pacify the situation but the stress and panic of it all just got to him too much.

Darrel’s gambit had been the final nail in the coffin for Jake’s shaky peace of mind. He’d pulled the trigger, whether by accident or on purpose and put a hole through the meteor. Which had cracked it open.

The haunted expression made more than enough sense now. But James couldn’t take back what he’d done. This was his fault. He knew that. A split second decision had caused Jake to do something he couldn’t take back.

This is what the world is going to be. Isn’t it?

A world James was more than ready for. But not a world the people he cared about were ready for.

“You did good.” James said, trying to comfort his best friend. He put a hand on his shoulder, trying to not add to the weight that Jake was carrying. “I bet Amy could use a hug or two right about now.”

“You think?” He asked despondently, staring at Darrel across as the acid was inches away from consuming him and the car. The screaming was so loud. It would get louder. James knew that.

“Absolutely.” James said, wrapping his hand around Jake’s shoulder and ushering him towards the Landcruiser. “Jess can swap with you for the front seat, you two can bundle up the whole way to the house.”

“James.” Jake said in a lifeless voice. “Did I… kill those two people?”

His best friend’s eyes looked almost hollow. This had shaken him. So much more than James would’ve ever estimated. Because Jake was a caring person. He cared about how his actions affect others, even strangers. Something that felt almost foreign to James.

The looper knew his next words could hurt Jake more than he ever wanted to.

So he told him the truth. Or more accurately, something he would make the truth.

“No man.” James said with as much kindness as he could muster. “You just made a call. That’s all it was.”

Jake didn’t talk after that. He just slowly got into the back seat, shuffling beside Jess who jumped out to make room. Amy had calmed significantly and was enough of an empath to notice that she was no longer the most scared. She took Jake into her arms in a way that warmed James' cold heart just a little.

Amy was a good person. That's what James decided at that moment. Not as good as Jake. But close enough that she deserved to live a full life with him.

Once James was sure Jake was in the car and secured, he stalked back towards the hood to get another good look at Darrel.

Things did not look good. The green glass acid had crawled on top of the car and was eating it away slowly. Darrel had stopped shouting. He’d stopped moving too. He was just curled up by the side of the car, a large cyst of the green acid snaking up his leg.

The screaming from the car had ceased as well.

All the sound had been swallowed by that terrible sizzle of flesh being devoured by acid. Biomatter being… turned into glass?

It’s not burning it. The swamping goo that had been covering everything around it had expanded enough that James could spot the shimmering surface it left behind. Glassy structures that looked terribly malformed had been left behind.

So the meteors turn things into glass? And that was the system’s weapon against humanity? Glass goo? Sure it moved fast and seemed to be scolding hot, but surely that wasn’t enough? Surely there had to be more.

Why does everything you do have to be so confusing? James thought, mentally cursing out the system.

[2:48:34]

And then there’s this stupid timer. Whatever. James didn’t have time for any of the system’s crap exactly because of the system’s crap.

With that in mind, he upholstered his Glock and steadied his aim Darrel who was now almost completely devoured by the green glass goo. James had meant it when he said Jake hadn’t killed Darrel and whoever was in the car.

Because the looper was going to.

One life for his best friend’s guiltless conscience was a trade James would happily make any day. Besides, they were already going to die. The looper was just granting them sweet release.

“I think they’re already dead.” Jess said, leaning against the hood of the Landcruiser. She tried to sound confident in her words, like letting two people die didn’t so much as phase her. But she carried the same shaky voice Jake had, she just masked it better.

“Jake doesn’t know that.” James said with a shrug, keeping his pistol aimed.

“He wouldn’t want you to sell your soul for him. You said things were going to go south and they have.” Jess warned. She was leaning like she might try and snatch the gun away. “But don’t be so hasty to go over the deep end. People shouldn’t just turn against each other.”

But they do. They always do. James thought, finding Jess’s view of the world surprisingly optimistic for what he knew of her. Maybe the situation was just that horrid that it made a pessimist hopeful again.

Whatever the case, James kept his gun aimed and ready to-

Jess put her hand on his gun. Slow enough that he didn’t instinctually pistol whip her but fast enough that he didn’t pull away. There was no strength behind the hold. It felt more like she was trying to guide the barrel away from Darrel who was almost certainly in agonizing pain anyway.

“I know you think you’re a bad person James.” Jess said, and he saw her eyes again. They locked with his the same way they had earlier that day. Granite against sapphire. “But how far can you go before you break?”

Oh. So that was what it was. Precious little Jessica was worried about her protector losing his grit. She thought killing someone would, what? Scare him? Make him recoil and turn into someone who couldn't keep her safe. The scratching against his mind grew louder. It always did when he was around Jessica.

Sweet little Jessica who thought she could see through him. Without any clue of who he was at all.

“You know.” James started, almost laughing as he did. “I was under the distinct impression that your Source let you see exactly who I was.”

Jess took a step back, taking her hand off the gun. She tried to pry her eyes away from James but he didn’t let her. He could feel it now. The way he felt the road untread everytime he thought about his Skills. She was doing something to him. Connecting to who he was somehow through his eyes.

What did she?

Could she see the scratching against his mind. See the constant scrapping of his sanity.

“I don't know what you’re talking about.” Jess stuttered out.

Could she see it now? She seemed scared.

“Oh you know exactly what I’m talking about.” James said, smiling at the sheer intensity of his assurance. “So which is it Jess? Do you see me the same way you foresaw the system integration? Or have you just made broad assumptions? Because I hate to break it to you but…”

He paused, letting the ferocity of what he was saying sink in. Jess held her ground, but she seemed a lot more unsure of exactly what she saw in his eyes.

“...I’ve done worse. I will do worse. Some of it I might disdain. Some I might enjoy. And none of it will stop me from doing more of what I need to so you’re all safe.”

James let those words sink. He let them fester between the two of them. He didn’t feel like hiding who he was from Jess if she was going to poke at the core of his being so much. That was what her stares felt like. Poking into the depths of his soul. Looking through him for something she needed.

He wanted to put a pin in this now, before she kept bugging that part of his brain that sent him over the edge.

Jessica wasn’t in a position to leave anymore. She was well and truly on the ship now. There was no getting off anymore.

So there was no reason for him to pretend. Not to her. Not if she was going to insist on protecting him from himself when she didn’t know who he was.

“I can’t see who you are.” Jess spoke, softly. Although she didn’t sound cowed. “I can’t see what you’ve done. I can’t see what you're willing to do. That’s not what my Source does.”

“Then what do you see?”

“Colour.” Jess admitted. “I see the colour of your soul.”

Soul’s have colours? James didn’t have a chance to a chance to press the subject. The moment he thought that, a loud, cracking resounded from the direction of the meteor. James turned, expecting to see the meteor completely fallen apart.

That wasn’t the case.

The meteor hadn’t changed at all. And it wasn’t the source of the cracking sound. Instead, the sound originated from Darrel, covered head to toe in green acid. The substance was slowly slipping off him, revealing a twisted human corpse that had been altered into a glassy reflection of itself.

His skin had turned obsidian black, with small streaks of white glass in between that were slowly being infected with the corrupted green of the acid. The worst part was his body. Because it was twitching. Everytime it did, a horrendous cracking sound like claws against a chalkboard resounded.

The sound was much more violent with every movement.

But what remained the most concerning, was the thing now floating above Darrel’s head.

[Splintered]

[Tier 0]

“I’m not just… seeing that am I?” Jess asked, and fear had returned to her voice. James could hear her footfalls slowly etching back to the car, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off whatever Darrel had become.

“You should get back in the car.” James suggested, in a lot more amenable tone.

“Agreed.” Jess said with a nod, running back to the passenger seat.

So what am I looking at? James wondered, staring at the twitching body of Darrel. He wondered if he should shoot the man. It took about a second to decide. Darrel was already twitching after what must’ve been certain death. The looper could follow the chain of progression. If he was twitching then he could move.

If he could move then that glass abomination might be able to stand.

And if it could stand and move.

Nope. James concluded. He levelled his gun at Darrel, careful to keep it steady and unloaded. Three bullets straight to the head. The gunshots echoed sound against and caused his ears to ring. Numbing vibration ran through his hand.

Darrel stopped moving for a moment. Just a moment. And then, his limbs started flailing, trying to push themselves up. He seemed clumsy at first but it was clear he would be moving in no time.

Glass zombies. Great! The half of humanity warning was starting to make a lot more sense now.

That said, James didn’t come unprepared. The bullets had done damage to Darrel’s glass head, that much was clear from the cracked dints. They just hadn’t done enough. Which meant one thing. He needed a bigger gun.

James wasted no time running back to his car and punching open the large jet black toolbox. Inside was a load of assorted weapons and ammo to accommodate them. As much as he was tempted, James left the fifty calibre Barrett in favour of the Benelli M4. Semi auto italian shotgun. Mean piece of work.

Hoping I don’t have to come back for Barrett.

When he got back to the front of the car Darrel had learned to crawl. Fast. He was skidding towards James at a terrifying rate. The looper held his aim, holding the shotgun stock against his shoulder and keeping his finger light on the trigger.

James waited.

Thirty metres.

Twenty metres.

Ten metres.

The glassy Darrel howled in a reflective screech and pounced towards James, getting just close enough to see down the edge of his barrel before James pumped him full of buckshot. Darrel was sent flying back with a sickening crack.

Then he landed on his limbs, screeching in the reflective tone and pounced again.

James shot him a second time, careful and efficient with his aim. This time, Darrel slowed just a bad as his glassy head started cracking all over. But instinct won over logic in whatever he had become.

The looper shot him one third and final time, feeling the kick of cold recoil as Darrel’s head exploded into shards of black obsidian.

[Congratulations! You have defeated a Splintered]

[Due to the nature of your Spark, all experience will be funnelled towards Source and Skill progression]

Darrel’s glass corpse rolled on the ground, splintered into thousands of pieces after whatever gave it purpose had been sundered. James had killed Darrel. He was responsible for the man’s death.

He felt nothing.

No eb of guilt. No empathetic suffering.

In life, Darrel had meant nothing to James. In death, that hadn’t changed.

The green grass goo was still slowly etching towards James and Hugh was probably wondering where he was.

I’ll have time to lament my soul later. James concluded.

Right now, he had shit to do.