Jeffcott, Seabreeze and Dustu reached the edge of Phoenix a couple of hours after sunrise.

The South Mountain Freeway formed the southern boundary of the city. Shaking their heads in an attempt to drive away fatigue, they stepped from the desert onto tarmac that was still cold from the Arizona night only to find a tall brick wall separating them from the housing beyond. They had no choice but to follow the road, therefore, until they reached an intersection with a road that led into the city. Before they could reach one, though, they were brought up short by the sight of anomaly creatures blocking the road ahead of them. Seeing them, the creatures raced forward, brandishing long claws on the ends of string-of-sausages tentacles.

Jeffcott turned to run, but Dustu stood there, his long, black hair blowing in the wind as he stared at the oncoming enemy, calculations taking place in his head. Even though he had no military training, Jeffcott could guess what he was thinking. The wall lining the road had horizontal ridges running along it, almost as good as a ladder, but if they took the time to climb they would be showing their unprotected backs to the enemy. One person could climb over, perhaps, if the other two guarded his back, but they would be sacrificing themselves in the process. And even if they did that, there was no guarantee that the person who climbed would be safe. They were almost certainly still at least a mile inside the anomaly. There could be other threats beyond. Threats that three people could deal with but not one man alone. What should they do, therefore? Sacrifice two people so that one could go forward, or all three of them go back in the hope of finding another way to go on?

It took just a split second for the Cherokee to consider the problem, but then he grabbed Jeffcott and shoved him at the wall. "Climb," he commanded. "Quickly."

Jeffcott started to argue, but the creatures, six of the larger kind with three flower-heads each, were only fifty metres away to the east and approaching at the speed of a man in a wheelchair. To the west of them another six creatures were approaching, and Jeffcott imagined dozens of such outposts positioned along the highway, the intelligence guiding the creatures knowing that the fugitives would have to cross it somewhere or other. We should have gone west, he thought ruefully. There was nothing but desert in that direction. The creatures would never have expected them to go that way. And with good reason, he realised. If they'd gone that way, they would have died in the desert, or else been forced to stop at a homestead for water where creatures might have been waiting for them. No, they'd had no choice but to go north and the intelligence had known it.

He dropped his spear, therefore, and grabbed hold of the wall. The ridges were narrow, but he was able to get enough of a toe-hold on the bottom-most to push himself up until he could grab a ridge higher up with his stretching fingers. The wall looked to be about ten feet tall. Ordinarily he'd have been able to scramble up it in just a couple of moments but a sudden pain in his side made him cry out and he almost fell. He gingerly touched his side with the fingers of one hand and found the stickiness of blood and the sharp form of something poking into his side. One of the creatures had thrown one of its claws at him.

"Climb!" Dustu shouted at him. "Seabreeze, with me." The Cherokee then ran at the nearest group of anomaly creatures, brandishing his spear and, after a frightened glance at Jeffcott, Seabreeze did the same. Two of the creatures aimed themselves for the running soldiers but the other four went wide to go past them. Jeffcott felt a surge of adrenalin strength go through him and climbed faster.

As Dustu drew close to the nearest crearure he ran it through with his spear, slashing open several of the fish eggs which burst open with a spray of crimson blood and thin, wriggling tubes. He yanked the spear back out again and turned to deal with the closest of those that had run past him. With his greater speed he caught up with it and it turned to face him, raising claw-tipped tentacles as if it was making an intimidation display. The Cherokee speared it as well, but tentacles lashed out tearing long gashes in his clothes and the flesh beneath. Again, though, after delivering what he must have hoped was a fatal injury, Dustu paid the creature no further attention but ran after the third, which was getting close to Jeffcott.

Seabreeze had also speared the creature that had aimed itself at him, but he remained near it and speared it again and again, each time ripping open more of its fish egg body modules until the young soldier was drenched with foul-smelling blood. He'd forgotten that the main objective was to protect Jeffcott, though, until Dustu shouted to remind him. Seabreeze, still clutching his bloody spear, looked around to see that the two he'd forgotten about had reached the base of the wall that the physicist was climbing and were reaching up for him with their long, clawed tentacles.

Then Dustu was there, though, swinging his spear at them to rip fish eggs into bloody ruin. The creatures seemed to have no sense of self preservation, though, and hurled themselves at him, stabbing with their claws at his legs and belly. The Cherokee cried out in pain but remained on his feet, still stabbing, trying to use the spear to hold the creatures back. His spear gave him a longer reach than their tentacles, but they spread out to surround him and a vicious thrust from a claw severed the hamstrings of his knee. Dustu fell and the creatures swarmed over him.

Then Seabreeze was there, though, swinging his spear in an attempt to drive them off. The tarmac was littered with burst fish eggs that the creatures seemed to discard the moment they were damaged. They made the ground slippery and the young soldier momentarily lost his footing. He recovered in only a moment, but it gave one of the creatures time to close the distance and thrust a black claw through his throat.

Jeffcott had reached the top of the wall, but he hesitated there for a moment, horrified by the fate of his companions. Dustu was hidden from sight by the two creatures sitting on him, stabbing with their claws again and again. When they slipped off his body, the horrified physicist saw that what was left of the Cherokee wasn't moving. Then all the flower-heads turned to look up at him and Jeffcott was paralysed by a moment of pure terror.

The creature that had been repeatedly stabbed by Seabreeze had lost most of its fish eggs, but those that were left re-organised themselves into a smaller creature that slithered over to the two Dustu had speared. They had also discarded their damaged fish eggs and, although they were a little smaller than they had been, they looked as good as new. Seabreeze's victim went to one of them and the two creatures merged into one with six flower-heads. Then all five of the creatures began crawling up the wall, sticking to it like slugs.

The sight broke Jeffcott out of his paralysis and he dropped to the ground, landing hard on the paved ground that surrounded a swimming pool. He picked himself up and ran across the back yard towards the house. There was a narrow alley between the house and its neighbour, at the end of which was a gate. The gate was held closed only by a latch, though. He opened it to go through, but then paused and looked back. The first two of the creatures had reached the top of the wall and were descending the other side, following him. Jeffcott gave a shriek of fear and ran out into the street.

The street ran east to west. Jeffcott wanted to go north, to the nearest edge of the anomaly. The creatures from the other outposts along the highway would also be climbing over the wall and entering the city, he knew, and if he went either east or west he was certain to find them blocking his path sooner or later. He had no choice, though, and so, bracing himself to ignore the pain in his side, he ran as fast as he could, gambling on the one advantage he had over the creatures. He was faster than they were.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Luck was with him and the road turned a right angle to the north after just a hundred yards, but creatures were appearing from the gardens of the houses on his left. One threw another claw at him but it missed, clattering against the brick wall surrounding the garden to his right. The creature slithered into his path, reaching out with clawed tentacles, but Jeffcott dodged around it and then he was past with nothing but clear road ahead of him.

He turned the corner and sprinted on past dusty gardens with cacti and palm trees, leaving the creatures behind, but ahead of him he could see that the road turned another right angle to the right. He was in a maze of suburban housing, he realised, and he had no idea how to escape from it. Sooner or later he was likely to turn into a dead end with nothing but houses, walls and fences surrounding him on all sides. He would be trapped while the creatures closed in on him from behind...

Just keep moving, he told himself, but the pain in his side was getting worse and he could feel blood making his clothes damp. He staggered on for a few more steps, but then weakness, pain and fatigue forced him to slow to a walk. Ahead of him was a junction where a road branched off to the north. He turned into it, but then creatures appeared on the rooftops of the houses to the south of him, taking taken the shortcut through gardens and across fences. Jeffcott gave a gasp of fear and forced himself back into a run.

Could there be creatures ahead of him, having spawned in Phoenix? He remembered that the city had been largely evacuated, but it had had a population of nearly two million. It would only take a tiny fraction of them to have hidden and refused to leave for there to still be thousands of them in the city. It toom time for the creatures to grow, though, and the south of Phoenix had been inside the anomaly for less than a day. The thought comforted him, but there were still plenty of the creatures behind him and he was growing weaker. How long could he stay ahead of them?

The road only ran for fifty yards before ending at another tee junction, giving him another choice between going east or west. He almost despaired, but then he saw that the road to the west had traffic lights a little further on, telling him that it met one of the city's main roads. He staggered towards it, the wound in his side now burning with agony. He could no longer stand upright. Doing so felt as if it was pulling the wound open, increasing the rate of blood loss. He ran half doubled over, therefore, his hand pressed to his side in an attempt to control the bleeding. He saw one of the creatures on the rooftop of one of the houses to the south of him. It saw him and slithered down the tiled roof. Jeffcott gathered all his remaining strength and ran faster, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep going much longer. He was almost spent.

There was a police car abandoned in the middle of the road with its doors open. A policeman lay dead beside it with dried blood around the bullet hole in his uniform. Ahead of him he saw other signs of civil disorder. Broken windows, abandoned cars. Signs of the chaos that had been caused by the hurried evacuation.

Then he saw a living man. A homeless man by the state of his hair and beard, but wearing smart, expensive clothing and a gold watch. Seeing him, the man staggered towards him. "Help me," he begged, and Jeffcott saw the signs of cell reversal all over him. The man would be feeling living tumours wriggling around inside him.

"Help me," he said again, his arms outstretched as if to grasp hold of Jeffcott's hands. "Please! I'm sick. I need medicine."

Jeffcott ignored him and moved to dodge around him, but then he paused as an idea came to him. There was currently only one creature able to see him and it was about to drop from the rooftop down into the garden where its view of him would be blocked by the tall garden wall. He would have a moment, a few seconds at most, in which to lose his pursuers, but doing so would require an act of betrayal so selfish and merciless that it sickened him to even think about it.

But the homeless man was already dying and would suffer terribly over the next couple of days as his condition progressed. He remembered Summers begging him for a merciful death. The homeless man might well beg for the same thing if he knew what lay ahead for him. And the authorities absolutely had to be told what Jeffcott had learned in the anomaly. If he failed to get back alive then everyone who'd died would have died for nothing. But did that justify the deliberate sacrifice of an innocent man?

There was no time to think about it. The creature behind him might climb the wall and catch sight of him again at any time and the opportunity would be lost. He turned, therefore, and ran over to the homeless man. "Have you had your vaccination?" he demanded.

"My what?" the man replied, looking bewildered.

"The vaccination, for the plague. Otherwise you'll die."

"I don't wanna die, man. I don't wanna die."

"Then get to the medical centre right away. That way." He pointed north, in the direction he'd been running. The direction the creatures would expect him to keep going. "Here, take this." He took off his robes and handed them across. "It's soaked in drugs that'll kill the germs."

"Thank you man." There were tears in his eyes as he took the robes. "God bless you."

The words stung Jeffcott with guilt and shame but he shook it off. He glanced back and was relieved to see that the creature still wasn't in sight. That could change at any time, though. "Put it on quick," he said, pointing to the robes. "Every second counts."

"Why's it got blood on it?"

"Another patient I was treating. Hurry now. Put it on."

The man put it on. "Will I be okay now?"

"Your suffering will soon be over, I promise. Now hurry. The medical centre is that way."

He pointed north again, but then had to wait while the man shook his hand. He felt living tumours in his grimy palm, which eased his conscience a little. "Now hurry," he said. "Before they run out of vaccine."

The man's eyes widened with fear and he shambled off up the street. As soon as his back was turned Jeffcott hurried back to the police car, got into the back seat, closed the door and crouched down as low as he could go. If he was lucky, the anomaly creature would look over the wall, see a man in white robes running away and think it was him. There was no way a human would have confused the two of them, but maybe the creature would be fooled. If vision was its primary sense. If it didn't hunt by scent or by some other sense unknown to humans. If that was the case then he was dead, but maybe he deserved it after what he'd just done.

He lay still, trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible, and after a few moments he heard a sound. A slithering sound, such as a snake might make if you listened hard enough. Jeffcott held his breath as the sound got closer and he imagined the creature following his scent. Knowing where he was as surely as if the police car was made of glass. He wondered whether the creature knew how to open a car door. He wondered how brittle the windows were. This area had only been inside the anomaly for a few hours, he reminded himself. The glass should still be quite strong. He hoped. He prayed. He waited.

Then the sound began to withdraw, and at the same time he heard a human voice crying out in surprise. "What in the name of God is that?" He heard the sound of a man running, then skidding to a stop and running in a different direction. He heard sounds of shock and horror, and then he heard screaming.

The sounds stopped very quickly and silence fell, but Jeffcott remained where he was. He didn't dare move until the creatures had left the area and moved out of sight. It would only take one of them to still be there and see him when he cracked open the car door. He was aware that the anomaly stretched one's perception of the passage of time, though. He might think he'd been there for hours and emerge to find that only seconds had passed and that all the creatures were still there, gathered around the corpse of the man he'd killed.

In the end he used the sun to measure the passage of time, waiting until the square of sunlight shining in through the car window had moved a considerable distance across the driver's seat headrest. Then, his heart hammering with fear, he slowly raised his head and looked outside.

The street was empty. There wasn't a creature to be seen. Jeffcott threw open the door, jumped out and ran as fast as the pain in his side would allow. North, towards the edge of the anomaly.