I turned the corner and flung myself to the ground as the explosion went off. There was a flash of light, and a shockwave of smoke and debris blew past the corridor. I instinctively covered my head and waited for the dust to settle. My ears rang.

I waited a good minute before getting up and peeking around the corner, shotgun at the ready. It was quiet. Visibility was low with dust and smoke still swirling at ground zero of the blast. No guttural growls. No glowing red eyes.

I stepped down the hall, shielding my mouth and nose from the particulate, noting the scorched and pockmarked architecture. No sign of the Volunteer or the creatures. But, through the haze, I did see shining ephemera. My pulse quickened a beat. That Crazy Volunteer took them out. Almost took me out too. Finders keepers?

I reached for the floating loot over the indiscernible piles.

[Common Data Card Fragments obtained - Hellhound - 3/10]

[Uncommon Data Card Fragments obtained - Baskerville Hound - 2/10]

[20 Crystals obtained]

Not bad. I ran a quick check of my storage.

[MEMORY

* STORAGE

* * 292 / 290 (310)]

Good. Not maxed out yet. And I noticed that Fancy Jack’s calling card took up 1 metabyte in a heretofore unnoticed Miscellaneous submenu of my Inventory.

I searched around for any sign of the Volunteer’s katana. But it was nowhere to be found. Pity. And the ringing in my ears. It hadn’t gone away yet.

Still, beyond the blast-induced tinnitus, I could hear fierce fighting in the next building. Time to move on. Rest in peace, anonymous Volunteer. Or should that be ‘Restore in Peace’? I wasn’t sure what was left of her. I walked to the end of the corridor, stepping through puddles of burnt viscera, and entered the next warehouse.

Round Table spotted.

This warehouse was similar to the one I had first entered, with multiple levels, including catwalks, accessible by stairs. Shipping crates were stacked high in various parts of the building, creating natural barricades and areas of cover. I counted about four Volunteers, but thought I could hear more. There were shouts, curses, and gunshots from the middle of the room and from above.

A Round Tabler with a submachine gun with a large drum magazine was taking shots from a catwalk above. I hurried around the nearest stack of crates to get a look. There was Rook and Bigwig, circling their target.

[{rare} entity detected - Huodou]

A what?

Several phosphorescent flares were scattered on the ground, and some of the Volunteers had flashlights trained on the beast. It was large, larger than a Baskerville, and jet black. So black that the light seemed to sink into its canine silhouette. There was a large weighted net over the snarling beast, but I watched in concern as the net caught fire and quickly burned away, as if the creature’s body emanated pure heat.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s loose!” shouted the man from above.

Free from its confines, the Huodou moved quickly, and the very ground seemed to melt and catch flame wherever it stepped. The Volunteer above rained bullets down at it, but it was quick. Another Volunteer, a scraggly fellow in a gas mask who was definitely not a part of the Round Table, charged forward with a molotov cocktail. He chucked it at the beast at close range, and I heard the glass break over it.

“You fragging nazz! What possibly made you think that would rabbit?” Bigwig shouted at the hapless Volunteer.

Sure enough, the Huodou sucked up the ball of flame into the black hole of its maw, broken glass and all, then quickly regurgitated what can only be described as Napalm on the Volunteer. He died screaming.

The hound darted forward, sending Rook and Bigwig into a retreat. Several large crates caught fire as the devil dog brushed against them. I noticed other flames coursing up the warehouse walls. I glanced cautiously toward the high ceiling. Could this whole structure come down if the fire got out of control?

Bigwig had his snub-nosed double-barrel shotgun out. Rook had her kusarigama, attached to her back by long chains. No automatic pistols? Maybe she had run out of ammo. The body count, of both Volunteer and beast, suggested this had been a drawn out slugfest. And here was the main attraction.

▶ I’m here to help!

Bigwig turned and flashed me a derisive look. I wasn’t sure if he recognized me or not.

“You’ve got a gun. Bloody use it!”

He punctuated his command with a double-barreled blast of his own. The creature snarled, and quickly weaved its way across the floor toward the closest target, leaving prints of fire in its wake. The closest target was Rook.

“Keep your distance, Rook!”

I instinctively stepped forward and aimed, shooting at the side of the beast. Contact! It yelped, slowed for a moment, then kept after Rook, who was being backed into a stack of crates. I reached for a fresh shell off my belt to reload. But then… oh no. I felt the shotgun start to fade from reality. Its particles dissipated into nothingness and were gone. I looked down and similarly saw the ammo belt melt away.

Frag me!

That other Volunteer must have made it through to the Restoration Point! The logjam was cleared, at least for them. I recalled what Antisoc told me about the System safeguards against duplicating weapons. Bigwig gave me an incredulous look and shook his head.

I drew my revolver in one hand and dagger in the other.

Rook, sickles held at her sides, did a duck and roll maneuver past the lunging beast, slashing at its foreleg with her blade. It howled, and the edge of her blade was slick with dark red blood.

Just then–CRASH! A catwalk came tumbling down from above, crushing Rook’s leg and pinning her to the ground. She cried out in pain. The first time I had ever seen Rook lose her cool. Bigwig fired another blast at the Huodou as it whirled around and I ran forward, unloading the final bullet in my revolver.

[0 / 5 ammunition remaining]

It was all happening so fast. Bullets rained down from above until I heard a click, click, click. The Volunteer with the submachine gun had run out. In desperation, I threw my empty revolver at the creature’s head. I saw Bigwig scrambling to reload in my periphery. I only had my dagger. What could that do?

“Rook, do you still have any Regenerator Serum?” Bigwig shouted.

I couldn’t tell if she heard him or not. Rook was struggling to push the heavy catwalk off her leg, which was clearly broken. Looking off to the left, I saw the body of another fallen Volunteer, not yet respawned. An AK-47 lay beside him. Did it have ammo left or not?

The Huodou confidently stalked toward the trapped Rook, fiery jaws opening wide. The creature’s eyes gleamed, and Rook appeared mesmerized but whatever she saw in them.