Isabella stared as a solid two-thirds of the entire zombie horde just vanished before she’d even really noticed it happen, her body walking to the fence to observe the utter feast of carrion that had simply popped like a dirty meat bubble the size of the airport itself…

“Was that our gun?” Neilson asked his tone, unlike some of his peers, intently thoughtful while many around him vomited after a few moments of staring at a frankly horrific sight.

“Not with only three bullets…” Her husband noted, “Not even close…”

“Look at them all crawling around out there… fucking Christ, it's like a horror movie!”

“More a snuff film, really, gore for gore’s sake alone…”

Isabella just turned, tuning out all the various comments towards confusion, disgust and apprehensive excitement, her gaze tearing away from the gruesome carnage that had all present stifled within a hushed sort of reviled awe. Her eyes fixating on the expression that Simmons was making while the man, not yet privy to what Subliminal could manage, simply stared out into the airfield where a nightmarish red hue still lingered in the air. A red mist hanging about the whole area like some grotesque cloud about to pour down droplets of blood…

As it happened, Isabella knew the man wasn't disgusted or confused; rather, the dark gleam in his eye was entirely contemplative. Like he was trying to think of as many ways as he reasonably could to somehow harness the—hurricane as it were… Funny… Even she hadn't really given the woman’s comment its due credit, even after seeing what she’d done the first time out here. But, of the two separate occurrences, this one just somehow feeling so much more intimidating than the last had…

Isabella had seen what her husband's weapon could do, had been with him when he live-fire tested it, and the devastation the revised version had caused was entirely within her imagined scope of understanding—if they had literal dozens, possibly nearing the triple digits, of them all shooting at the same time. And yet, once more, she was all but affirmed in her thoughts that Subliminal was somehow doing something even more outlandish than anyone actually gave the girl credit… That hadn't been the damage caused by three slugs. And unlike her pistols, she also knew that there was no nearby ammo for the weapon, nor was it possible to reload without disassembly. Which, in her mind, meant that the other woman was somehow, some way, making duplications of either the ammo or the gun or—maybe even herself. Not unless her power simply created more bullets in addition to making her fast and immortal and anything else it could do… Though evidence towards duplication was quite strong given the weapons that Isabella herself had ruined, but that had also somehow popped back into existence as exact copies while the remnant remains of the old ones still sat on the ground.

Miracle power her ass… Isabella was fairly sure that Subliminal could literally pull things entirely out of her own at this point…

“A little sloppy…” Simmons eventually chuckled, his comment no doubt referring to the complete ocean of ghoul juice and pulp that seemed to shift and moan in one giant borg of disgustingness… What creatures were still living due to their wounds, struggling through the mess of it all…

“I suspect it was—purposeful…”

“Oh? How so?”

“Last time she did it,” Isabella commented, both their voices low as to keep the conversation somewhat private, “Every ghoul was executed with a clean shot to the head. This time, I’d say she simply wanted to have—fun with something that made her actually excited… In fact, last time, it was even faster than this… I know what you're report likely said, but honestly, it was only a fraction of that time; two or three seconds or so is all it took before she started fighting the hulk…”

“Well, I believe it… And I’d say we have a bargain that is struck… Though, do allow me to voice my concerns over you're settlment trying to recruit this girl. I don't think she is something I could ignore existing in my backyard…”

“We tried…” Isabella sighed, her eyes glancing towards the sound of abrupt gunfire that exploded near all the same moment, half the creatures dragging themselves through the goo suddenly stilling while another half of the ghouls still on their feet simply fell over.

The scene was almost—comical… so absurd that her mind simply couldn't make any sense of it… And while her eyes noted how Subliminal seemed to lazily stroll along the outside edge of the gore-pit, moving as though to get a better angle on those ghouls still alive, faster than she could blink, the remaining monsters all—died… No hint it had been coming, no telegraph or warning shots, just—death. One moment, the mutant girl was standing, peering into the mass as though contemplating if she were in the ideal position; the next, she stood half a kilometre away, shooting several ghouls that were just standing around in a pod without using her secretive power. Just popping heads with eerie accuracy, never actually breaking stride…

If it wasn't for the gunshots and bullet wounds, Isabella would have genuinely believed the girl simply had command over life and death, able to simply wave her hand and reduce thousands to little more than corpses… “It's frightening, isn't it?”

“You've no idea…” Simons replied, the smile still affixed to his face as fake as Isabella’s own. “She’s a fucking monster…”

“An unhinged monster. Which is why I do hope you're report to Strom will include the words, leave her alone.”

“Trust me, a missive will be sent out to all of our troops within the day. That thing pretending to be a girl is going to have the run of our territory or will be liable to set it all ablaze… and I'm not taking that chance.”

“Our thoughts very much share that sentiment. Truth be told, I'm not actually sure I want her settling in High-rise.”

“How would you stop it?”

“I wouldn't…” Isabella sighed, turning away from Strom’s general even as she spoke. “I’d just hope she went away… The girl already killed ten of our best supers, not upstanding folk that we were happy about regardless but there’s no controlling her. She made a comment towards being a natural disaster, and in all honestly, I don't even think she was joking. In fact, It very well might have been a damned warning for us all…

“Strom mentioned she said her mother was one of the first mutants? Any headway on that?”

“Since last night?”

“I know it's a stretch…”

“Well, she’s attractive and blonde but very short. That being said, although nobody knows why, everyone does accept that the first batch was—strongest… Realistically, there’s only so many people who it could be but does it even matter?”

“If it’s true, no… Science never figured out if there was a direct correlation between power, parents and children, but the only true hero that came out saying he had a boy was well documented on saying his son was at least as powerful as he was, potency-wise.”

“Which…” Isabella replied softly, “Means, while atypical, she’s theoretically of comparative power to Mrs. Planet… only, in her own way…”

“Not as powerful… come now, Mrs Planet could have clapped this entire airport into dust!”

“You know, I actually don't think she could have done a better job faster. Sure, she could level the place in a few moments, but clearing this all out without collateral damage?”

“Maybe… Either way.” Simmons grunted after a moment of silence, voice rising to a normal pitch, “I should be returning to my duties. I’ve seen enough and you’ll have you're support troopers within a few hours. Things are going to get tight…” He muttered with disgruntled frustration, “But not missing the opportunity will be worth whatever price is paid…”

Isabella nodded at the man as he offered a more genuine smile, returning her gesture before marching smartly away, the man flooded by a wave of his assistants that flocked to him like ducklings to their mother.

“I think I got most of them…” A voice manifested from her side; Isabella needing every iota of control she possessed not to leap from her skin as a forced smile formed on her lips.

Turning, she eyed the smaller woman who’d popped into reality at her side, the girl staring out into the distance of carnage as though she were just one more spectator trying to wrap their heads around it all.

“I'm sure it will be fine from here. We will need to burn all the bodies anyways, else they’ll all just come back again…”

“Sounds good… Sooo… I am on a timeline…”

“You want to start making your way to Quonset.”

“Yup!” The distressingly preppy voice affirmed, Isabella not needing to imagine the almost innocent smile hiding behind the mask to know how little what she’d just done actually affected the strange woman… “It's still a long walk…”

“You could drive,” Isabella suggested, not unwilling to provide a vehicle. The faster they got down there, the faster her people could start scouring the base.

“I could, but I'm going to throw all my loot from yesterday in the back of the tiny pickup Will and I took then, pawn it, pick up a few things then, probably just walk… Honestly, it makes it easier for you, given I’ll be killing everything on my way down…”

“I’ll be sending all our pyrokenitics after you then when they're done here. The opportunity to keep the ghoul population down is worth half this effort alone.”

The small woman nodded at that, seeming to take it as a prudent plan. Though, after a moment, Isabella saw her mask shift towards a direction over her shoulder, the girl’s gaze unknowable; however, Isabella noted that a certain musclehead currently carrying her pack was in direct line of sight…

“You know…” Subliminal mused aloud, “I could use a pack mule to carry all my things so I don't have to keep stopping every time I find something interesting…”

“Done.”

“I didn't even say who it was!”

“You don't need to. I'm not going to inquire as to anything personal, but it's not like I wouldn't be averse to staring at his ass for an eight-hour hike, myself.”

“You're just going to give him a radio so he can tell you where all the secret goodies are!”

This time, the smile on Isabella’s face was quite real, though she didn't say a word as to her intentions, no matter how on the nose the guess had been.

Will followed after the petite nightmare with an ass that could slay in ways the girl typically didn't display when sending hundreds of ghouls to their untimely end. His eyes ever trying to keep aware of his surroundings and maintain as much eye contact as he could with the thick, bubbly and tight cheeks that rose and fell in a way that was positively hypnotic to his lizard brain. Not sure where exactly the woman was leading him, but, not willing to hedge his bets on the matter either. As it happened, he watched Subliminal suddenly lean over and through a window, the move so abrupt that Will momentarily pulled his attention away from the absurdity that had him adjusting his pants to peer into the random building they’d stopped by. Inside were several large green cases of a very familiar sort. The girl seeming to struggle to reach the first one before pausing, the tantalizing and possible purposeful wiggle of her posterior freezing over with a glacial smoothness.

“The fuck?” She demanded, now half leaping into the space before hauling back on a box and all but heaving it on the ground. Honestly, it was somewhat impressive and hot, seeing such a small woman throw around such a large case with comparative ease really did it for him.

Will liked girls who knew what they were doing, what they wanted and weren't afraid to get their hands dirty. There was just something so attractive about the wild competence and confidence that the strange girl had that really worked. Still, he shoved his mind from the gutter, an eyebrow raised while staring down at the military crate she quickly unbuckled, only to see that it was empty.

“Oh… you're shitting me…”

Will immediately recognized the inlay within the box for what it was, not obtuse to the large weapon that had formerly been there…

“What about the others?” He asked, even as he moved to start hauling the boxes himself, Subliminal still staring at the absent Barret that had been there but only a handful of hours prior.

“There’s no way… nobody saw me!” She half accused, half glared through her mask while refusing to look away from the box as though staring at it would magically make it reappear!

Will tossed the four other crates beside the first, and together, they unbuckled them all and, other than the empty one they both knew about, all were still full of supplies. But, when he looked back up at the masked girl, he saw a sight that baffled him. She was standing exactly where she’d been, only now, the huge long gun was in her arms, completely assembled and held as though she were inspecting it.

“The fuck you pull that from?”

“Thin air.” She curtly replied, her hands moving as though already practiced with the thing as she dissembled it and carefully returned all its component parts to the crate. “But somebody stole the original from me.”

“And, what does that make—this one?”

“Bullshit, but it's no less real than the first. The real issue here is that I’ve been robbed!”

“Doesn't seem like a big deal…”

“Not to you, but I really dislike it when people take my shit… like, really dislike it…”

The low and ominous tone from the mutant was enough to send chills down his spine and for his manhood to grind against his leather pants, the slight groan of stretching leather causing the woman to shift in an almost imperceptible way…

“Was that you're dick?”

“No! Twas merely a fart!

“I can see it!” She laughed, pointing towards the object in question to which Will pretended entirely to be ignorant of.

“That’s just the natural bulge of you're’s truly!”

“I just saw it twitch…”

“Kankle exercises.”

“Obviously, puberty hit you twice, same as Burt…”

“Yeah, you know, that was actually a lot less fun than you’d think… Fucking acne everywhere, enough grease to run a fast food joint… the voice…”

“Were you crackling?”

“Every damned word…” Will admitted, sighing in the process. “It was all miserable, even if it only lasted the one year…”

“Does it fit?”

“In what?”

“You're hand obviously! No, where it's supposed to go.”

“It's not a footlong!”

“Doesn't matter! You be on the receiving end of something eight inches long and again as thick and tell me it doesn't feel like you're getting split in half!”

“Well, that’s what the magic fingers and tongue is for!” He laughed, and though the mask was expressionless, he felt the look that he got was utterly filled with incredulity.

By the time they were all loaded up and back in the Toyota, Subliminal had returned to her prior semblance of discontent in a way that had Will moderately concerned.

“I just don't get it…” She complained, perhaps for the fourth time thus far. “Nobody saw me, you can't understand it, but I can promise you that nobody saw me.”

“An Atypical with a treasure finding power!”

“Then why wouldn't they take it all?”

“Honestly…” Will murmured, fingers tapping against the wheel. “In all likelihood, nobody did see you. Hell, I know I was wondering where the hell you disappeared those crates off to since you literally made them vanish in a heartbeat. But, chances are the culprit is already long gone and pawned it off for crack besides.”

“Crack?”

“You know, drugs? The literal worst enemy of all inner cities and minority communities?”

“I know what crack is! But… where the hell would people still be getting it? It's fucking rare, and I’d know… More, again, why not take everything!”

“That’s not how druggies think, and ignoring how you’d know,” Will intoned, glancing at his very much not crackhead-looking passenger from the corner of his eye, “The who, where and why are all fairly easy if I was a betting man… More than likely, it was one of Issac’s addicts. The freaking scavengers are everywhere in the city, and they get into the most bizarre places looking for their fix. I’d say that one of them quite literally stumbled across your cache by accident, flipped the first box he saw, took the gun with a head filled with how much rock he was gonna score for it and promptly fucked off with nothing else on his mind but a throbbing hardon to chase the dragon…”

“Pfft! You make it sound like the fuckers are hiding behind every bush wanking their stiffys while hoping a little ball of tinfoil rolls by like tumbleweed…”

“That’s actually a fair description of it… Buggers are downright stealthy! I've actually caught one in a bush before, not jacking it, but just blitzed out of his fucking mind and sitting there, playing with a dirty two-litre of Pepsi. Asked if I wanted some of his tea…”

“Gross… you said yes, right?”

“Obviously! That’s a once in a life time opportunity given he also claimed to be the king of Korea!”

“Did Korea have a king?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Doesn't matter, dude was white anyways!”

The laughter that arrived from Subliminal’s mask made Will’s stomach flutter, the man somewhat struck in a moment of odd realization towards exactly what the sensation entailed… good god… They’d only known each other for two damn days!

Of course, he’d gotten that bizarre butterfly nonsense before enough times when he was a teenager to realize it was what happened when he had a little crush on one of his classmates back in the day… Nothing had ever happened of the feeling and he’d never really gotten since then in the same way as he just had, but…

“You good?”

“I don't know… Sort of just got this weird—surreal feeling, you know?”

“Sure… like a—Deja Vu or something?”

“Not quite… more of a topsy-turvy sort of thing in the stomach when I heard you laughing.”

“No!” Subliminal cooed, punching him in the arm with playful delight, “For me?”

“Yeah… I think so…”

“That's so cute!”

“Please don't call it cute…”

“It is! God! Don't be embarrassed; dude’s usually aren't that open! And if they were, they'd get laid a lot more.”

“You're going to make me regret telling you, aren't you…”

“Oh, you won't ever live it down! Were buddies! It would practically be mean not to tease you about it!”

“Yeah…” Will sighed, letting the entirety of the air in his large lungs flow from his lips in a slow and deliberate manner. “knew I should have just kept my mouth shut…”

“Cmon! Don't be like that! I think you're cute too!”

“Stop using that word!” Will laughed, shaking his head as Subliminal kicked up her boots onto the dash and bobbing them with clear delight.

“I'm a dom, by the way! Just so you know, and not like I'm trying to pussy-block myself here, but it is a big commitment to head into my domicile of perversion, and I do like to be open about my intentions—and interests.”

“You, dom me?” He chuckled, pushing the girl with a single finger as her whole body shifted in her seat. “That would be like a squirrel trying to wrangle a whale!”

“Ohhh, trust me, there’s tons of ways to make sure you turn out nice and trained! My mom used to make my dad do all sorts of fucked up shit… Really traumatizing as a kid until I got old enough to figure out I was a lot like she was… I might be small, but I promise you, I am ruthless… And, the way you were pretty much hyper fixated on my butt tells me it would probably be easy to wrap you around the finger, besides.”

“I wasn't staring at your butt.”

“My bad dude, guess I was wrong… Nevermind! Let's just be friends!”

Will sat there for several long seconds, the bobbing of Subliminals boots never for a moment slowing in the impish glee that the girl's entire body radiated made him grumble, “I wasn't staring at your butt…”

“I mean, you were, and like, more than was reasonable given you were supposed to be keeping an eye out.”

“How would you even know?”

“Gender-specific trade secret.”

“Ha! That’s bigger bullshit than you pulling a Barret out of thin air!”

“Okay, then maybe it was just you're hard-on stretching out you're pants while I was bent over double.”

Will was quiet for a moment, yeah… he couldn't really deny that one… well, he could, but they’d both know he was lying; the proof, after all, had been right there in the pudding! When he didn't reply, the smugly pleased woman at his side merely preened.

“Okay, fine! You've got a great—ugh, an amazing ass… happy?” He groaned, somehow seeing the raised eyebrow she was giving him…

“When we're in private, you may spank it, once, for being a good boy and telling the truth!”

“Oh, Ima spank it a whole lot more than once…” Will growled, somewhat impetuously.

“You can try! But, every time you miss after the first, I demand a foot and or back massage!”

“You think that’s going to stop me?” He barked, laughing at the thought of it! “Sounds like a win from where I'm sitting either way…”

“I'm glad you think so…” Subliminal purred, one of her hands squeezing lecherously at his arm, My shoulders and soles are always killing me after a day of walking around.”

When Will finally managed to extricate himself from the nightmarishly small truck, he did so with a decidedly unhappy twist to his features. Eyes just staring at the stupid silver thing, then, sighing, he moved to peer at Subliminal who was already pulling on the first crate. “Before I help you drag these to wherever they're going, I'm going to have to go report in with Isabella, make sure she’s not expecting me to go—do something…”

“Nah, you're with me.” Subliminal stated, many older and newer vehicles of all makes and models moving through the highrise gates, the area abuzz with activity!

“Not saying I don't enjoy your company and all, but I am sort of in the doghouse right now… no offence, but I’ve got to live with the old harpy…”

“I know, but I'm saying you're with me. As in, those are your orders.” She reiterated as Will started lining all the large containers in a neat row.

“She said I can help you with the boxes?”

“Noooo, she said you're going to be my baggage bitch! Or… workhorse… ugh… bellhop…”

“She did not…”

“Oh, she absolutely did! You're coming with me right to Quonset! Now, cmon, I’ve got to sell this crap, then get you saddle and some bags!”

“You're not riding on my shoulder.” Will warned, putting a little force into his hand as he closed the still-open door, glaring at the tiny woman he could swear was smirking behind the mask.”

“No! You want me riding on something else you've got, don't you?”

“God, you're horney!”

“Eh, it's more just harmless flirting. Seriously though, big guy, you're with me, I need someone to carry my shit, and I at least somewhat trust that you aren't a dickhead.”

“Not a smart decision on you're behalf—” Will noted with a small and dark chuckle, “I could be a nefarious plant by the evil council thats gotten you to lower you're guard with my mighty muscles and manly charm!”

The snort that filled the air caused yet more butterflies to scatter in his guts, but when Subliminal tossed the crate she was working on at him, Will simply started piling them on. He got four, one under each arm and again in each hand, leaving the tiny woman to struggle with the last one, more because she had to put on a wicked lean to compensate as much as it seemed a genuine fight to get it very far off the ground. He’d of honestly taken that one too, if he had any reasonable means to even hold it at this point…

The two of them made their way through the bazaar, turning down a rather familiar street until they reached an absolutely wretched-looking strip of leather who haggled with an exasperated Subliminal as though the girl weren't the avatar of death…

“You said fifty’s for the eagle! I ain't never agreed to Fifties for a long-gun! You're talking action express versus BMG, ain't no comparison!”

“Okay, but I’ve also got the drone!”

“Fuck the drone! I said I’d fill that little stain on humanity for you, that’s seven rounds for a standard clip! That fucking Barret uses ammo twice as expensive and holds ten rounds besides!”

“It's a fucking military drone!”

“And the hell am I supposed to do with it?”

“Sell it, use it, fuck, the camera’s probably eight-k, you could see a bear take a shit from space!”

“Nope! Ain't buying it. Im an arm’s dealer kid, what I gonna do with all that fancy tech bullshit?”

“What about the recoilless then?”

“Ehhh…” The old codger moaned, eyeing the weapon within the flipped open case as though trying to decide if he could do anything with it. “four BMG.”

“Oh, you can fuck right off! There’s two grenades in there!”

“And I’ve got one box of BMG, and it ain't even full! Now… you wanna throw that Barret into the mix, and, I’ll make sure you're drowning in ammo for that Deagle on you're hip.”

“Fucking unbelievable…” Subliminal whispered, lighting her hands off the merchant's counter and just shaking her head. “You just want my sniper…”

“Course I want it! The fuck you think I’ve been collecting all that BMG for? You know how much that shit will be worth if I can package it with something that will actually shoot the stuff?”

“Two grenades… You could murder a tank with those! I killed a hulk with one!”

“I know, I know, but it just ain't got the… shall we say, curb appeal that the long-gun’s got.”

“Why are we not just trading with the armourer in the tower?” Will asked, voice nearly a whisper as Subliminal rounded on him, nearly the same moment that the shop owner spat his direction!

“Will, the adults are talking! Shush!”

“Yeah, what she said! Fuck off or stay quiet, kid!”

“God damn…” Will muttered, raising both his arms and taking a step back from the two glaring nutjobs who’d turned on him as one…

“Okay…” Subliminal breathed, visibly seeming to calm herself before turning back to the wily merchant of war and pointing at his chest. “So, you don't want the literal grenade launcher that can absolutely turn a kulk into a smouldering hunk of char, but you do want the totaly overkill Barret that definitely can't do the same…”

“My reasons ain't any different than why you want it, it’s badass! A living legend! People ain't gonna come by here and buy the grenade launcher with only two shots! They're gonna want the long gun that’s gonna make em feel six inches larger in their pants! You know how much pussy a guy will think he can pull in with that thing? He’ll take one look at its sleek and predatory goodness and fantasize about every lady within a kilometre limit filling their panties! Just try it out in you're own head! You wanna spoon my barrat fifty? Or you wanna touch my Carl Gustoff… Ones sexy, the other’s… well, kinda weird…”

“Fine.” Subliminal huffed, again slamming her palms on the counter. “Half the clip in BMG.”

“Nrrrrgggnnn… n-no…”

“Yes…”

“N—no… cmon kid…”

“Do it!” The mutant whispered, leaning forwards and whispering through her mask. “Take the deal! It's so good! And I'm so young! Being taken advantage of while completely out of my depth!”

“You ain't fooling me!” The man groaned, taking his hat off to flip in on his head, then, flip it again in a clear nervous tick… “But ugh… gimi the drone too and, hell, we got a deal!”

“You didn't want the drone!”

“Course I wanted the drone! Look at the thing!”

“Five BMG, a full clip of the Nato, and I swear if even a single of those rounds misfire—”

“They won't! My hand to god! I don't trade the cheap shit when I deal at this level of things.”

“Fine.” Subliminal nodded, sticking out her hand to shake with the disgruntled salesman who looked about as worked over as he probably wanted his customers to feel… Almost reluctantly, he went to the back of his shop, returning after a series of latches and locks had all been popped to place the aforementioned boxes of rounds on the counter, looking like it was causing him physical distress to part with either…

“Will, all the cases are his, so, pull out the barret and one of those rifles, everything else goes!”

“Yes Ma’am…” Will intoned, working as his apparent new boss commanded, lifting the marksman gun from the case, noting how the old man’s eyes almost seemed to tear up that he wasn't getting his grubby paws on it, while, by contrast, Subliminal began loading the rounds.

She seemed to inspect each one before easily filling the clips with a not-at-all-surprising ease to her movements. Truth be told, he wasn't sure why they were trading the grenade launcher as, to him, and regardless of how much he liked the barret, the recoilless seemed like the more useful of the two. All things considered. Still, he didn't argue, it wasn't his gear to begin with! But, after they were done there, Will walked with both weapons slung over his shoulder while Subliminal took them to various stalls through the streets and purchased several large sacks and satchels that it was not at all lost towards who they’d be for… Will allowing himself to be subjected to the tiny woman’s machinations because—well, he wanted up in that… And, he wasn't above being patient and helpful enough until he got what he wanted.

They were on the road and walking back past the airport an hour or so later. Already, Will could see crews starting to ramp up for operations. Legion geomancers were busy at work forming one of their settlements bunkers at the tip of the airport, cutting off easy access for any that didn't try to pass it. Yet, the majority of people actually weren't getting started with the intent to strip the airfield down. Rather, Legionnaires and citizens of Highrise, both were seeming to ready themselves as though the airfield were a military staging ground, preparing for the real prize that would be made available to them in the near future.

It was a hectic scramble of logistics and an ever-widening stream of people all pouring into the area in a manner that was heavily reliant on strict organization. He wasn't sure where the council had mobilized so many people from but, obviously, they were willing to pay quite well to incentivize people for the mission. Vehicles filled the space in great droves, any one of them likely able to hack at the ankles of whatever time it would take to actually get to Quonset. Meanwhile, by contrast, Will was hiking with dozens of bags all attached to each other… no trunk to throw them all in, no heat or comfortable seat. Just—boots… Will following the single woman responsible for the mess as she lazily strolled past it all, moving at a pace all her own and that was seemingly uncaring for the urgency of what she’d caused…

The thing was, once they lapsed into a sort of companionable silence, Will sort of found himself growing—dissinterested. There wasn't much to really do or see, Subliminal just flickering on occasion whenever they saw ghouls nearby and, after a very loud series of bangs that were too close to really be distinguished, everything just fell over like a kid stomping on a sand castle. There wasn't any sport in any of it, not danger or even so much as a middling concern, the girl just slaughtering anything and everything in sight…

“No wonder you're always so bored…” He muttered after a couple of hours of simply walking and watching ghouls just topple all their own…”

“Yeah… I mean, it's cool I can do what I can, but… you’ve no idea how much of my life literally revolves around trying to find reasons not to just sit on a roof with a stash of perc’s and just live out my existence in unfeeling chemical bliss…”

“Finding enough of that sort of thing probably makes it fairly easy to avoid…”

“Not as much of a problem as you might assume…”

“Because you can pull guns out of you're asshole? So then I take it, drugs work perfectly fine as well?”

“Yeah, they do… Best not to think about it though, I don't like leaving people alive who figure out the too much about the old power if you know what I mean.”

“Dully—noted…” Will supplied, nodding his head and doing his best to shove all thoughts of a Subliminal power related sort right from his head.

“Wana shoot the barret a bit?”

“I mean, you’ve only got five bullets…”

“Oh! Yeah… my bad…” She muttered, abruptly pausing to look around themselves and eye their surroundings. They weren't anywhere special, actually starting to get near the national park, and with nobody nearby save for executed ghouls, Subliminal nodded to herself and looked up at him. “Don't tell anyone about what I'm about to do, and you and I can stay cool, yeah?”

“No, for sure! Lips are sealed. Feel free to—freak-away!”

“Pass the big guns, both of them.” So saying, the girl also began pulling off all her gear, and guns, putting it all into a neat pile at her side.

With a shrug, Will pulled them both from his shoulder, handing the small girl each, of which, she hefted in each arm before levelling them akimbo style like she was about to start blasting away! “Alright, let's fucking kill some zombies!” She shouted, psyching herself up before…

Will Blinked, a blur of motion that was too fast to really discern flashing before his eyes, and then, he was looking at Subliminal as she casually tossed an identical modern battle rifle on the ground to the one now sitting from a sling, a Barret already in the process of having its clip ejected also being tossed on the ground. Then the girl began filling the first weapons box with—double the amount of ammo she’d started with… Will simply staring while trying to wrap his head around what he was looking at—then, shit went sideways.

Subliminal started popping in and out of existence everywhere, and every time she did so, she tossed another weapon on the ground… That lasted four or five times, a comparable single heartbeat before she simply started slinging all the weapons on herself while tossing their very full clips on the ground. After, what followed was a lesson in sheer mindfuckery. The girl bounced around the area, every time she did, she threw more clips of ammo into the pile until there was a small hillside of scattering magazines all falling over each other. All of it taking place within the span of dozen or so seconds… The pile of damned ammunition just looking like some elder god was tossing it all from portals that just kept snapping in and out of reality…

When it all finally stopped, there had to be a hundred clips for both weapons just sitting there, gleaming brass shining in the afternoon light…

“Okay! Are you a tentacle god?” He demanded, turning to glare at the tiny girl who finally stopped—whatever it was she was doing and walked over to the large pile she’d made, yawning while snacking on a bag of chips that, god damn it, probably just came out of nowhere as well!

“We should load all that into the bags. Probably don't need it all, but I figured if I was going to do this, I’d make it somewhat easy for us…”

“I don't even know what I'm looking at,” Will muttered, not wanting to touch a single thing that had been shoved through the void! “And, I’d appreciate the answer to that question, by the way!”

“I might be Cthulu—ish…”

“Ish?”

“I mean, I am human, but, the powers are kind of a little bizarre… Either way, now you get to shoot the Fifty all you want! I kept it for you, by the way.”

“You're a god damned sugar momma…” Will whispered, wondering how much money or, value the woman had just summoned into existence in thirty seconds!”

“My bitch best remember who be holding that wallet while he’s walking around town all fine as fuck in fur and shit, ya dig?”

“Pfft! You’d make a horrible pimp…” Will sniggered, watching as Subliminal puffed out her chest and mimed a pop-and-lock kind of swagger that didn't at all fit her…

“No! Don't be mean, I’d be really good at it! I’d be like, so intimidating!”

“You’d have to go on a killing spree for that first, and then you’d have the cops all over you're ass!”

“I’d just bribe them!”

“After going on a killing spree?”

“The street cred would be crazy! Nobody would even think about fucking with my girls!”

“I think the girls would rather just outright start up a damned mafia at that point… or a government cue…”

“Well, then the same still applies! I’d be a kickass godfather too! Or, a semi-benvolant autocrat.”

Will could only sigh, leaning down to pluck one of the bizarre cartridges for the large gun and inspecting the thing as though he expected it would simply vanish into air… or bite him… Turning it over again and again, while shaking his head and wondering if it had actually been smart to express physical interest in a abysal abomination that might very well been sleeping for the past thousand or so years…