Leading the scrub-clad men and women toward a table, the Apostles settled them in. A second set of robed figures, these ones without distinctive masks, brought out cooler boxes and set them beside the medical people.

One of the homeless people jumped up and directly fled for the door. They vanished outside, sprinting into the sun. None of the Apostles so much as twitched.

Levi eyed the Apostles. Not worried about them, huh. Yeah…figures. They can always clean up the leftovers later. Not like an ordinary person is getting out of the fence, and if someone does, well…they’re homeless. No one’s going to listen to them.

Though honestly? They aren’t leaving this fence. Someone’s going to put a bullet between their eyes.

The leader of the robed Apostles stepped forward, putting her hands on her hips. She surveyed the crowd from behind a TerraForm mask, giving them a firm look. “We Apostles have funded a vitamin shot to help address your nutritional deficiencies. Line up and come forward one at a time. Afterward, you’ll get fifty dollars for your troubles. If anyone wishes to convert, please step forward now. We’ll conduct interviews in the back rooms.”

Levi jumped up. He waved his hand. “Me! Pick me!”

Everyone else in the room remained silent, eyes on the floor. Even Rose tilted her fingers downward, angling her eyes away. Handel remained as silent as ever.

The woman swept her eyes over the crowd, ignoring Levi. “Then, if no one is interested, let’s begin.”

“What? I can’t convert? Come on, what is this discrimination?” Levi complained loudly, eyeing the Apostles. No one twitched.

Hmm. Was that an honest attempt to recruit new underlings? It’s not a bad idea. Anyone they take from here will owe everything to the Apostles, and as a consequence, likely be willing to do anything for them. But they filter out the outright crazies, because they aren’t actually a cult or religion. Or perhaps, aren’t merely a cult? They have a purpose. One they can’t risk escaping into the wider world.

I already knew that, though. Well. That they have a purpose, anyways. Not what it is. Unless their purpose is to loose monsters upon the world, in which case, it’s a boring-ass purpose. Think bigger. Believe in yourself. Have a grandiose goal! Try to destroy the world, at least.

…

They are called the Apostles of the End, aren’t they.

He rocked up into a deep crouch, putting a hand on his chin. Okay. Apostles. They’ve opened the Gate, which is a pain in the ass. They also did that white-monster-surprise-attack on the concert. Monsters…hmm. Monsters in the crate. Giving homeless people incredibly suspicious ‘vitamin shots.’ He eyed the syringes. I really want one of those. I don’t have any proof, but I suspect that shot is related to the monsters appearing at the concert. Maybe it’s some kind of monster bait, or something.

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But that doesn’t make sense. If that’s the case, then people at the concert would have had to have had this stuff in them already before they arrived at the concert, to call the monsters out. What kind of freak rocks up to a bunch of shady cultists and asks to get monster goo put in them?

Unless those people at the concert were a test run. Apostles who had willingly accepted the goo shot and taken the goo deep into themselves—

Focus, Levi. Focus.

Point is, could be Apostles who willingly turned into monster bait. It would be a lot of people willing to die for a cult I’ve never heard of, but then, people die for weird shit all the time.

He cut his eyes across the room, toward the medical staff. I don’t know enough about how this goo works. Bait, a catalyst, some kind of weird mutagen… A smile spread across his face, ever so slowly. And there’s only one way to find out.

Levi leaned in to Rose. She perked up on her fingertips, looking at him. He nodded at her. “Listen, kiddo. You don’t want what’s in those shots. I do, but I’m a freak. I like you and Handel and your backwards names, so if you cooperate with me, I can get you out of here safe and sound. How’s that sound?”

Rose hesitated. She rolled onto her side and rubbed her fingers and thumb together, making a strange burbling sound.

“I need the cash,” Handel translated, still facing away.

Levi rolled his eyes dramatically. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “How about now?”

Rose stiffened. She jumped left and right by micro-distances, peering around, then jumped onto her side and snatched the bill with her thumb and forefinger. With a deft twist, she slipped it somewhere into her strange attire. She hesitated, still on her side, then hooked her finger.

Levi slapped her finger down. “Don’t get greedy. You’re getting out of here with your money and your lives, got it?”

Rose mumbled something.

“Why are you helping us? If you want the shot,” Handel said.

“I want the shot, but I also want chaos. I don’t want these guys to get away with whatever they’re doing. If I can throw an easy wrench in their plans, I will. Sure, I can do my own thing, and you better believe I will, but it’ll be waaaay easier if I have a couple of henchmen. So? What do you say?”

Rose hesitated, then nodded. She peeked around Levi, crooking two fingers slightly upward to look at Handel.

Handel turned around. He blinked, once. “Okay.”

“Excellent. Henchmen acquired!”

While they spoke, the other vagrants in the room slowly lined up, under the constant vigilance of the robed men and women in super masks. Levi joined the back of the line, falling in after the lion-faced person. He nodded at Handel and Rose. Rose scurried closer; Handel leaned lifelessly toward him.

“When I give the signal, go nuts. Do whatever you can to be maximally destructive and disruptive. Tear the roof off. Throw tables around. Kick people through doors. Remind people of old arguments. Whatever. Once we get this party started, the three of us exit out that window,” he pointed ahead of him, “and sprint to the gate. From there, we should be pretty much home free. Sound good?”

Rose bobbed in place. Handel swayed, giving no indication of life.

“Excellent.” Levi turned back around.

Slowly, the line crept forward. Too long to fit neatly, it went all the way to the back of the building, then curved back toward the tables, only to turn back toward the rear again. One of the scrubs-clad people stood at each folding table, delivering shots from a crate sitting on the floor beside them. One of the Apostles loomed ominously over each scrub-clad person, their plastic, unchanging masks somehow threatening.

As he approached the first bend that drew close to the tables, Levi reached into his pocket. Subtly, he tensed, his eyes locked on the crate of shots. His eyes glittered with greed, and he licked his lips.

I could get one shot…or I could take the whole box.

A lady in scrubs gestured her next patient forward. She stepped toward the filthy man, taking his arm in one gloved hand and raising the syringe in the other. The needle dipped toward skin.

“Now!” Levi shouted, lunging for the crate.