Chapter 31

Unfortunately, Zach was quickly stopped by in his tracks as soon as he reached the bottom of the bridge.

"Come on, let me through!" he grunted as he tried and push and shove through the near solid of ghosts blocking his path. There was no space to squeeze through. He growled before giving one of the ghosts a punch to the face, only for it to sink back and have another take its place. "Okay, you want to be that way fine. Blue Marble!"

He pointed his finger and fired the small blue orb of psychic energy at wall of ghost. It worked a bit better this time. Instead of falling back into the wall, the ghost broke apart before being replaced by another one.

"Well that's progress." He took aim again only for someone to grab his arm and start yanking him to the side. "Hey what…?"

"Come on, we can't get in the way of her shot."

It was Carrow leading him away from the wall. Zach glanced back and spotted Beth with the Camera Obscura ready and aimed towards the wall. He followed Carrow out of the shot, ready to rush in once the path was clear.

With nothing in the way, Beth got on one knee and grabbed a handle on the side of the camera. She narrowed her eyes and pulled on the handle, sliding a wooden section out as a blue flash erupted outwards.

Zach wanted to ask if that was new, but there was no time. When the flash faded away, a huge section of the ghost wall was just gone.

"Carrow, Zach, go get Blue. We can't let her get incorporated!" Beth called out as she pulled on a handle and a blast of steam erupted from the camera. She didn't really need to say a word, Zach was already moving when she started speaking. He rushed past the wall, Carrow right behind him, and witnessed chaos.

Sunny Shore City had a relatively simple layout. It was even narrower then South Palm. Starting from the canal, there was a single row of stores, a wide road, another row of massive hotels, then their matching private beaches, as well as a single larger public beach across from the bridge.

Today, both rows of buildings were crawling with ghosts, going in and out, breaking windows and causing lights to shatter. The road was filled with crashed and burning cars, as well as a torrential river of ghosts coursing through it. Worst of all, around them were people passed out on the road and sidewalks.

Part of him wanted to stop and help them, but he forced himself to ignore them for now. Not only did he have no first aid skills, there was way too many people to save. There must have been hundreds of people in the streets alone, and that wasn't even counting the people in the buildings.

No, he could help them by destroying the Nightmare made Manifest. It'd be faster than trying to get these people out of here.

He forced himself to take a single step forward as ghost ran into him. He shoved it to the side, catching a side glance of the entrance closing behind him.

"Looks like no one's getting out of here now." He grunted as another ghost came for him. Her was about to take aim with his finger when the ghost was hit by a bolt of blue energy.

"Keep going!" He heard Carrow call out. Zach dared to look back and spotted Carrow with his back to the wall. He was taking aim with the blue stone at the end of his walking stick. "I'll try to cover you the best I can."

Another ghost rushed him, forcing him to fight that one off as Zach looked back at the road. He took aimed and formed another Blue Marble. It looked like he wouldn't be able to count on Carrow to do everything.

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He blasted a ghost as another one flew over a car parked on the sidewalk. He ran up and punched it, sending it flying off to the side as he reached the car and took cover behind it.

He poked his head out from the top of the car only to notice someone tapping on the widow from the inside. He formed another Blue Marble and shot it at the closest ghost coming his way before ducking down and seeing who it was.

A kid… maybe seven or eight, dressed in a big jacket and with long blond hair, was tapping at the glass window. They were shivering in fear, their eyes desperate for help.

"What's happening?" They screamed as Zach glanced over at the front of the car. Both of the kid's parents were passed out, or at least he hoped they were. The kid must have been the only psychic among them.

Zach grimaced before looking around. There was no way to get the kid out of here. The way back was sealed off and the way forward was cut off by a coursing river of ghosts. But if this kid was going to be here to see all of this, it felt too cruel to leave them like this.

He fired at another ghost, making sure the kid was able to see both him and the ghost he hit. He needed the kid to listen to him, this would probably do the trick.

"We're fighting a ghost hurricane." He quickly explained before ducking behind the car again. The kid was staring at him with wide eyes, looked like the plan had worked. "Stay in the car and wait for this to be over. I can't get you out of here so the best thing you can do is hide here until…"

He was quickly cut off as a massive flash went off behind him. Both he and the kid looked back and spotted the entrance to the Nightmare made Manifest blown open once again. Standing right behind Carrow were five figures approaching in a line.

Zach took no time to recognize both Andrew with his shotgun and Lady Gray holding a roaring candle, but the other three figures were new.

The first was an older man wearing the exact same white suit Carrow wore. He had a mix of gray and blond hair and carried a longer walking stick with the same exact blue stone Carrow's held.

The next was a darker skinned man wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts. His hair was in an orderly cut, and his arms were covered in chain tattoos. As he walked forward, one of the chains glowed blue and came out of his arm.

The last was a woman with a buzzcut wearing what he would call work-out gear. The sole exception were her hands, each holding a brass knuckle lined with small blue stones. She had a manic grin, and was the first to break the line, roaring forward and punching her way through the first ghost that got too close.

"You all go on ahead, my apprentice and I will keep the gate open!" The older man in the suit called out as he and Carrow slammed the bottom of their staff's into the ground. A blue pulse erupted around them, keeping the ghosts at bay as they tried to move in to close the wall again.

"Okay change of plans, I'm, going to get you over there," Zach turned back around to the kid in the car. They'd been staring at the new batch of exorcists who'd made it through the wall when Zach got his attention back. "You ready to run kid?"

The kid nodded and unlocked the car before getting as close to the door as possible. He looked up, waiting for Zach to open the door.

Zach poked his head over the door as he heard the sounds of combat beginning him. Looked like the other exorcists were fighting their way forward. He fired at a few more ghosts until he was pretty sure the coast was clear.

"Okay now!" He pulled the handle open as the kid came crawling out. He put his hand over the kid's shoulder and started pushing them forward as they ran to the group of exorcists.

The two of them ran, the kid holding their hands over their head as Zach kept an eye out for any stray ghosts heading their way. He needed to fire at a few of them, but most of the ghost were heading towards the exorcists.

"Come on, almost there." Zach reassured the kid right as ghost started coming for him. He took aim only for the ghost to shatter before he could do anything.

"Zach, what are you… is that a kid?" Andrew lowered his gun as Zach and the kid raced past him.

"Hi Andrew, bye Andrew," he huffed out, the exit right in front of him. Carrow's eyes widened when he spotted the child, before narrowing as the wall of blue energy keeping the entrance open solidified. His mentor smirked, but did nothing more.

"Get him out of here." Carrow demanded as Zach and the kid rushed past him. Beth raced past them the other way, steam coming out of her camera.

"We made it," Zach called out, the sun shining down on him again. He knelt down to meet the kid at eye level before grabbing his shoulders. "Okay, you stay out here and wait for this to all be over. I need to get back in there. Can you do that?"

"You're going back in there? But why?" The kid demanded as Zach let go of his shoulders. The kid grabbed onto his shirt, not wanting to let him go.

"Because my friend is still in there. And I'm going to get her out of there before something bad happens to her." He took the kids' hands off him. "Now, are you going to stay here and wait?"

The kid nodded as his hands fell to the side. Zach smiled and put his hand on head.

"Thanks, you won't be waiting long."

And with that, Zach got back up and rushed back into the Nightmare made Manifest.