As he left the Apostles behind, he lifted his phone. “Maury! We’ve got a problem!”

“What? Couldn’t find the guy who made the Gates?”

“No, no. I did. That’s the problem.”

“How is that a…” Maury took a deep breath. “Levi.”

“Uh huh?”

“Is he still breathing?”

“Nope!”

A long, long pause. At last, Maury sighed. “I’ll be honest, I expected that. Which is why I’ve been trying to figure out how to close the Gates on my own.”

“I knew I could count on you!”

“Now is not the time to say that. Anyways, luckily, I do know a thing or two about Gate particles, so I can probably figure out how to close it eventually.”

Levi frowned. “Maury? What’s with all those caveats? Did I fuck us?”

She sighed. “Not fully, but…it’s best if you hear it in person. Come to the secondary base.”

“The shitter?”

“The tertiary base.”

“Oooooh. Got it.” Levi hung up.

He crossed the city quickly. Even with the monsters, it didn’t take him long. Only one death, too. Supers battled the monsters, fighting them back. A few large bird monsters flew around, screeching and darting down to bring death to the streets, but for the most part, smaller earth-bound birds and strange monkey-like monsters ran around, breaking shop windows, causing havoc, and generally giving the low-grade supers a workout. Levi killed a random monkey in passing, then ran off down the back streets, toward the edge of the forest.

“Hey, Levi!” Roxy called from the second story of her motel.

“Roxy! Big Momma in?”

“Oh, I know you like some big lovin’. She’s in.”

“Good, good.” Levi climbed up the stairs. Roxy led him to room 204, badging him in. She held the door open.

Maury sat up on the bed. “Who is it?”

“It’s your favorite boy,” Levi introduced himself.

“You wish,” she countered.

“Ouch.” He turned to Roxy and slipped her two twenties from Blasterman’s wallet. “Thanks.”

“Easiest forty I ever made,” Roxy said with a wink. She sauntered off, swinging her hips.

Levi walked in, letting the door click shut behind him. “What’s the thing that’s so bad you can’t tell me over the phone?”

Maury sighed. She patted the bed beside her. “You probably want to sit down.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Knowing she would…?” Levi muttered to himself.

“Stop referencing songs no one remembers from the 60’s and sit.”

He sat obediently. “Are you mad?”

“When you’re around? Generally.”

“I mean, that I killed that guy. Your old colleague.”

“What? God, no. That old bastard wouldn’t have given you anything on the Gates, assuming he even had it. Opening a thousand Gates is one thing. I could do that, with enough time and will. Closing a thousand Gates?” She clicked her tongue.

“Not that easy?”

“Not easy at all. One of those easy to turn on, hard to turn off, kind of things.”

“But you have a plan.”

“I do…have an idea. I wouldn’t call it a plan, per se. But an idea.”

Levi sat up and clapped, ready to stand. “Let’s do it, then. Get down to business.”

Maury grimaced. “Yeah. That’s the problem.”

“What?”

“The plan revolves around you. And I don’t expect you’ll survive it,” Maury said, grimacing.

“Oh. Too corrupted?”

“No…not necessarily. It would destroy you anyways.”

Levi squinted. “But I’m immortal. That doesn’t matter. I come back to life.”

She pressed her lips together, then took a deep breath. “You have Gate particles in you, which attracts other Gate particles into your body. Your corruption level is basically the level of Gate particles in you at any time. The more you die, or the more you’re exposed to Gate particles, the higher that count gets.”

“Following so far,” Levi said.

“The artificial Gates are created by seeding a large concentration of Gate particles in one location. In this case, by injecting them in people, allowing them to breed, then activating them all at once. This corrupts the person into a monster, and also creates a chain reaction that breeds more Gate particles. Even if the monster is killed, the Gate particles a corrupted human spits off are left behind in the area. They continue to breed, growing denser and denser until a Gate is formed.”

Levi nodded. “I see. So if I go stand by the Gates and absorb the Gate particles, I can de-activate the Gate. Got it.”

“Right, but…”

“But I die.”

Maury pressed her lips together. She nodded. “You become so corrupted that you become a monster, or worse. Even if you keep your immortality, you won’t be human anymore. We’ll have to…I don’t know, lock you up or something.”

She stared at the floor for a beat, then waved her hand. “It’s…I need to do more research. There’s probably another way. This was just my stupid first thought. Probably won’t even work.”

“It’s okay. I’m old. I’ve seen enough,” Levi said, patting her shoulder.

“No, no. Give me time. I’ll come up with something.” Maury went to adjust herself on the bed, but the second she put weight on her shoulder, she winced.

“Hey, whoa. Rest up. Get better,” Levi said, concerned.

“I’m fine. These old bones don’t heal like they used to, that’s all.” Maury adjusted her shoulder subtly and sat forward without pushing with her arms. She nodded at Levi. “Like I was saying. Give me a week. I’ll come up with something better.”

“We don’t have a week. All those Gates are still active. They aren’t erupting right now, but they could start again at any minute. The city’s struggling enough as it is. Those big birds…without Alpha to clean them up, they aren’t going anywhere fast. If more of them come through, the city’s fucked. Hell, it’s already pretty fucked.” Levi stood.

“Levi. Don’t. It’s just one week. I—”

“Might come up with something.” Levi shook his head. “I was bluffing to that old guy. I do care about the city. If I can fix it, I will.”

Maury opened her mouth, then shut it. She nodded. “Yeah. I can’t guarantee anything. Though, you know, Levi, if you end up an immortal monster, that doesn’t help the city, either.”

“Better than having a thousand open Gates.” Levi clapped his hands. He nodded. “Maury… it was good knowing you.”

“Yeah. Levi…I’ll never forget you.”

“For the whole ten seconds you’ve got left in this world,” Levi shot back with a grin.

Maury gave him a look.

Levi lowered his head and rubbed his neck. “Yeah. I know. I…I’ll miss you, Maury. More than anyone.”

Maury nodded. She stood, heaving herself to her feet, and opened her arms.

Levi ran to her. He wrapped her up in a big bear hug, careful to dodge her hurt shoulder. She hugged him back, so tight he could barely breathe. They didn’t say anything else. They didn’t need to.

Maury released him, and he stepped back. He nodded. “See you on the other side.”

Maury saluted. “Good luck.”

Backing away, Levi turned at the door. He reached for the doorknob.

“Hey, Levi.”

He turned.

“Say goodbye to Kella, will you?”

Levi nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. After everything, she deserves that.”

He shut the door. Maury nodded her goodbye. The door clunked shut.