Tossing the badge in one hand, Levi headed toward the lobby. Blood splattered against the glass door, staining the room in lurid crimson. The doors opened automatically as he drew close, and a head rolled out, dead eyes rolled up in the woman’s head.

“Hell of a welcoming committee,” Levi commented, gently kicking the head aside. He stepped inside, barely dodging to the side as a monster chased a group of businesspeople out. Too fixed on its prey to notice him, the monster pounced, bearing two of the businessmen to the ground. Blood and viscera flew, staining the asphalt red.

The two remaining monsters inside the lobby feasted on kills of their own or kicked their way through the café, slowly backing a group of panicking businesspeople into the corner. Levi paused by the door, gazing out the glass at the sky above.

Something clunked, the sound resonating through the tower’s supports all the way to the earth. A luminous figure lit up the night sky, glowing as bright as the sun. Alpha hovered in the air overhead, thrumming with power, his presence oppressive even through the building’s walls. Levi watched silently, preparing to throw himself to the floor.

Not even giving the first floor of his own tower a cursory glance, Alpha flew through the city, making a beeline for Central Square.

“Right. That tracks. I mean, why give a shit about the monsters in his own house? It’s not like anyone will give him a commendation for saving these rich assholes. Better to head out to where everyone will be able to see him. Make his heroic actions public,” Levi commented. Glancing at the monsters, he walked casually across the room to the elevators.

A man screamed, then abruptly went silent. Levi didn’t twitch. In a few seconds, he reached the elevator. The LED screen above the elevator announced OUT OF ORDER in scrolling all-caps.

“In case of fire, take stairs,” he murmured to himself, eyeing the plaque by the elevator before wandering off in the direction it pointed. “But what do I do in case of monster?”

The door to the stairs stood locked, but a quick bop with the badge he’d secured, and it opened right up. He stepped in.

Footsteps rushed at him. Chair legs bore down on him.

Startled, Levi jumped back, reaching for his knife.

“He’s human, he’s human!” a woman shouted.

Levi peered up, leaning to the side to see around the chair. Office workers crowded the stairs, all jumbled together. From the informal t-shirt and jeans of tech startups to the full designer suits of investment bankers, everyone packed tight on the stairs, unwilling to risk the lobby.

An old man peered out from behind the chair and stared at Levi, then shook his head, lowering the chair. “You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you were one of the monsters.”

“Same. I am, though.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The man squinted at him, looking him up and down. Levi beamed back.

A second later, he gasped. “The—the ninetieth floor. My girlfriend works on the ninetieth floor—does anyone have a badge? I can only reach the thirty-fifth!”

The old man looked up at the woman. She shook her head, looking up in turn. “Anyone? Ninetieth floor?”

Heads shook all around. At last, a young man in a smart suit stepped forward, leaning over the railing from a story or three up. “I can access the ninetieth floor. Who was your girlfriend? I thought everyone got out.”

“She’s a janitor—please. Is everyone out? Even the janitors?” Levi begged.

The young man’s brows furrowed. He looked at other well-dressed people around him, who also shrugged. At last, he leaned over the railing again. “We’re not sure.”

“Can you lend me your badge? Please, she’s got a condition, she faints under stress. I’m worried she didn’t get out,” Levi said, pushing past chair man and his assistant to move closer to the smartly-dressed young man. He placed his steps carefully, almost every square inch of the stairs packed full of people.

The young man hesitated, then unhooked his badge from his suit. “Okay. But look quickly, and come right back down, okay?”

“Of course, of course,” Levi replied, nodding desperately. He took the badge from the man, letting relief play over his face. “Thank you so much. I’ll be right back.”

The man nodded. He saluted.

“Hey—” A woman reached out, handing him another badge. “Can you check the eighty-third floor, too? I’m worried we left Bob up there. Please?”

“On the way down,” Levi promised her, accepting the badge.

She nodded. “Good luck.”

With one last wave, Levi pushed past the last of the people and climbed on up the empty stairs alone. He glanced at the badges in his hands, then chuckled quietly, shaking his head. Stress bred irrationality, irrationality bred unreasonable reasoning, and with a few little lies, he held badges in his hands. Easy. Almost too easy.

A few frightened officeworkers hurried past him, pushing their way down the stairs. Levi leaned to the side to let them pass. Tightening his grip on the badges, he shoved them into his pocket and put his all into climbing the stairs. I don’t have forever. These monsters are dangerous, but they aren’t Alpha-class. I doubt he’ll even get EXP from killing them. Sure, it’ll take him a while to track them all down and kill them all, but that’s the extent of it. Like killing a bug infestation one by one. Time-consuming, but not difficult.

Panting, Levi kept climbing up the stairs, heaving his way up one foot after another. “Damn, this is a lot of stairs. Why the hell does this tower have to be so damn tall?”

“He wanted it even taller. Alpha did,” Maury commented in his ear.

Levi jumped, slapping a hand to his ear, then scowled. “Warn me.”

“You’re the one who didn’t hang up the call,” Maury pointed out.

“Still.” Levi rounded yet another flight of stairs and pressed on, breathing heavily.

“You could’ve taken the elevator.”

“Could’ve, if I jacked it and broke past the emergency off. But what if it was actually busted? I can’t trust that shit.”

“There’s no monsters in the elevator shaft. It’s perfectly safe,” Maury reasoned.

Levi grunted. “You die in an elevator and spend a month trapped in a metal box, and see how you like elevators afterward.”

Maury chuckled.

“Besides, I needed to get my passes,” Levi said, patting his pocket.

“I could’ve—”

“Nah. Don’t touch anything unless I absolutely need you.”

“What, you think Alpha doesn’t have cameras inside his house?”

Levi scoffed. “That paranoid bastard? I know he doesn’t. He’d rather die than risk letting some hacker see him in his birthday suit.”

Maury snorted. “You’re right, anyways. He doesn’t. Not that I can see, anyways.” She paused, then sighed. “You still think Alpha doesn’t know I’m alive?”

“I hope. Let me be naïve about one thing,” Levi said.

“We’ve all got our one thing,” Maury said, chuckling. She yawned. “Alright. I’m muting again. Scream if you need me.”

“Oh. I will. You better believe that’s a promise.” Locking his eyes on the distant top of the stairwell, Levi climbed on.