“Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Two days ago, Bethany had been homeless and applying for jobs at one of the computers of the downtown public library. It was there that she had encountered the horned beast hanging the plaque on the hidden stairwell.

G.A. 1-102, Thoth.

“The God Arena of Thoth,” Bethany told Emily and Rocky, though she did not elaborate on how she knew it was there. She trusted Emily and Rocky and had been about to tell them when she glimpsed the winged eye floating in the corner of the room, watching and listening to their conversation. She remembered the description of her Oracle Eye from her player screen.

Invalid Entry. Oracle Eye is not included in the talent list for this contest. Please contact God Contest Support to report this error.

She was not supposed to have the Oracle Eye. She knew that Diana – or Oracle, as the shadowy figures had called Diana in her dream – had been punished for her actions. Would her friends be punished too if she started advertising her ability? It was possible that the audience watching this contest was unaware that she had been given this gift, and she did not want to draw attention to herself.

So when Emily had asked “What’s up with your eye?” Bethany had lied. She’d had an illness as a child, and it left her blind in that eye. Rocky had looked aghast at Emily’s bluntness, but Bethany had broken the tension with an awkward laugh and no more was spoken about it.

She had known Emily and Rocky for less than a day, and she had already lied to them. How many more lies lay ahead?

They had spent the remainder of the morning preparing for the library, not knowing what to expect. Rocky carried his fireman’s axe across his shoulder and was dressed in his light blue security shirt and black jeans. He wore a black belt tight across his hips, though he had removed all the keys it once held. “They jangle too much,” he said as he stuffed his truck keys into his front pocket.

Emily, on the other hand, had donned a white shirt and a clean pair of overalls she kept in her locker in the basement of the office. She’d stuffed the overall’s plentiful pockets with knives, ball bearings, pens, and anything else she found in her technician toolkit that could be turned into an impromptu weapon. She dedicated the pocket on her right hip exclusively to chocolate bars she had purloined from the vending machine in the office lunchroom. Her black hair was tied back in a simple ponytail. She carried her metal pipe in one hand, comfortable with its heftiness.

Bethany wished she felt as comfortable as they looked. She wore a dark pink T-shirt that was one size too large, black yoga pants that were overdue for a wash, and a pair of lime green running shoes. Rocky had gone to the basement and pried open gym lockers until he had found something that was close enough to her size to wear. Bethany’s own clothes were in her car at the supermarket, except for what she was wearing yesterday. Those clothes were now tumbling in the facility’s laundry room alongside the other clothing they had fished from the lockers. Rocky had offered to pry open more lockers to find something more suitable for Bethany, but she was grateful for what they had found.

They had packed the truck with three days of supplies. Food, water, and, at Rocky’s insistence, eight rolls of toilet paper. “You can never have enough toilet paper. You’ll thank me if we are waylaid along the way,” he had told them as they drove through the security gate and headed south towards the downtown library. Emily had teased him mercilessly about it, until they crossed the threshold and saw what lay beyond.

Bethany stared out the window as they drove, unable to tear her gaze away from the streets beyond. Jitters flew behind the vehicle alongside Rocky and Emily’s eye, capturing the action for the unseen audience.

The first creature they came across on the road was eight feet tall, with six legs and a monstrous scorpion tail. It was perched atop a city bus, where it had been gathering junk to create a nest. It hissed as the truck passed it by, and Rocky stepped on the gas before it could leap in their direction. Bethany’s heart pounded in her chest, and it did not stop when the creature was left behind.

Along every street and in every neighbourhood, there were monsters patrolling sidewalks, tearing apart yards, and hiding in corners waiting to ambush unsuspecting players. They were of all shapes and sizes, unholy hybrids of the familiar and beings birthed from nightmares. A fang-tooth gopher the size of a rottweiler emerged from a vacant lot as they drove by and chased them for a mile before a ten-foot-long bat-creature with a scorpion tail swooped out of the sky and carried the gopher away in its claws.

Rocky drove as quickly as he could. The truck drew the attention of the monsters, which would often pursue them for a few blocks. Bethany tried to fight through her fears and find a pattern to their movement, but she had little luck. Certain monsters seemed tied to a particular neighbourhood and would break off pursuit when the truck crossed the intersection. Others would chase them until they found an easier target for their fury. It felt important that they recognize the difference between the two types.

The only time Rocky slowed down was to weave his way around the vehicles abandoned in the middle of the road. They had been flipped over, with doors ripped off and roof smashed in. They did not see any occupants, though once Bethany saw a fresh trail of blood leading from the passenger seat to an alleyway a few feet away. She did not tell Rocky or Emily what she saw. There was nothing they could do.

“Where is everyone?” Emily remarked as they sped towards downtown. “The only other people we have seen was that family of six in the minivan headed north. Where are the police? Ambulances? There are loads of people in the military in the city. Why is no one resisting?”

“211,801,” Rocky whispered in response. Bethany was confused, until Rocky pointed towards the shining golden letters in the sky.

211,801

“The number of players… I mean, the number of people…remaining in the contest,” he continued, his voice cracking with emotion. “Twenty thousand dead since yesterday. Ten per cent of the city.”

“Do… do you think anyone we know is…?” Emily asked Rocky, her bravado cracking around the edges.

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Rocky looked away from the golden numbers in the sky and stared blankly out the windshield. Emily’s question hung in the air, unanswered, as they drove on in silence.

* * *

Bethany had expected the downtown library to be abandoned.

It was not.

As they strolled through the glass doors, clutching their weapons tightly at their side, they were shocked to see over a hundred people crowding the main floor of the library. There were garbage bags full of personal belongings scattered haphazardly across the floor, and pop-up tents were set up in every space large enough to hold them. The tiny art studio was full of folding tables, and Bethany could see a man in a business suit rationing out food to the hungry patrons.

It looked like every homeless person in the downtown core had taken shelter in the library as they sought the safety of others as the world crumbled around them.

“Excuse me, but can I help you?”

Bethany recognized the library security guard from two days ago, who had asked her if she was alright. He was clutching a chair leg in his hand, his muscles tensed. He looked exhausted, as if he had aged a decade in a day.

“Umm… hi,” Rocky said awkwardly, lowering his fireman’s axe to his side. “We’re here for… books?”

“For… books?” the guard asked skeptically. He glanced at their weapons, but did not ask them to put them down.

Emily stepped in, still clutching her pole. “I’m sorry, we did not expect anyone to still be here.”

“Some people have no where else to go,” the guard responded defensively, then shouted over his shoulder. “Edna, we have three more.”

An elderly woman, who hardly reached Bethany’s shoulder, strolled out from behind the library’s front desk holding a notebook. “We’ll need your names, dearies,” she said, handing them a pen. “We’re keeping track of people for when we are rescued. You can see that we are quite full, but there might be some space in rows D and E. For some reason, no one wanted to hunker down in the cookbook section. Frederick, can you show them?”

Frederick gave an exhausted sigh, then signaled the trio to follow him.

Bethany looked around the library. The air was filled with anxious whispers. Some people were hunched over, staring at nothing. Many were injured, holding cloths over fresh wounds. Those that were healthy moved amongst the crowd, refilling water and given out what limited food they had to get them by.

At the back of the self-help aisle, a nurse knelt next to a skinny man lying on his stomach. There was a needle laying at the man’s side. Bethany watched her take the man’s pulse, give a defeated sigh, then signal to a large man in a biker’s jacket. The biker picked the skinny man up in his arms and carried him into a back room and out of sight.

“We’re doing the best we can until help arrives,” Frederick said, following Bethany’s gaze. “A group went out this morning to find help. They haven’t come back.”

A chill rose in Bethany’s spine. “We’re not here to stay,” she said. The library felt wrong. She remembered all the invisible creatures crawling along the library’s ceiling the day before the contest began. What did they have planning for the library? “And you should not stay either. Isn’t there a way to get these people out of here?”

"These people have nowhere else to go,” Frederick replied. “Now, I’m sorry, but I think you can find your own way from here. I’ve got to go check on Edna. She’s… not all there, you see. I’m not sure she even knows what is going on. Not really.”

“Thanks Frederick. You are very brave, staying to protect them. I hope you are rescued soon.” The words felt hollow, but it was all Bethany could think to say.

Frederick simply nodded, then turned and walked back to the lobby.

“Bethany, do you want to lead the way?” asked Rocky, his eyes darting around the library. He looked as uncomfortable as Bethany felt.

“You guys go ahead. I actually do want to find a book. Just don’t start without me,” Emily said as she strolled down the aisle labelled ‘Religion’.

Emily looked at Rocky for an explanation, but Rocky simply shrugged. “It’s best just to let her do her thing. Once she gets an idea, there’s no sense trying to talk her out of it.”

Emily led Rocky to the door to the basement where she had met the horned beast. The plaque remain affixed to the door. G.A. 1-102, Thoth.

“Good. The plaque is still there,” Bethany said with relief. “When I completed the Dolos Arena, the plaque vanished. I think an Arena can only be won once before it goes inactive. Which means there are only so many talents to go around. We are in a race to locate the arenas and complete them.”

Bethany looked over at Rocky and saw his perplexed stare.

“Bethany, there is nothing there,” Rocky stated, running his hands along the door. “I want to believe you, but...”

“I just need you to trust me, Rocky. The plaque is there,” Bethany interrupted. She glanced up at a winged eye sitting atop a row of manga comics, watching them. Had she already said too much?

“I trust you, Bethany,” Rocky said as he leaned against the wall to wait for Emily.

A few minutes later, Emily appeared around the corner, her arms filled with a stack of hardcover books, their pages yellow and worn with age.

“Emily, do you really think we’ll have that much time to read? When was the last time you even read a book?” teased Rocky.

“Last week, and shut up,” bit back Emily, thrusting two of the books into his arms. He fumbled with his axe, trying not to drop it as her cradled the books. She pass another book to Bethany, and then read the titles of the three in her arms. “Gods of Ancient Mesopotamia. Religious Deities Throughout History. Mythical Figures that Changed The World. Bethany said she looked up who Dolos was when she first found the plaque on the washroom door. That knowledge helped her survive. So I thought we should do a little research on this Thoth guy before we walk through that door.”

Emily was filled with smug satisfaction, and Bethany could not help but laugh.

Rocky gave her a meaty thumbs up. “Who knew you were such a bookworm, Emily. I thought your personality was exclusively composed of bravado and playful violence.”

Emily smacked Rocky’s shoulder, then winced and gripped her side. Rocky’s smile faded, and he set the books down and placed his hand gently on her side. “Is it still hurting? Better or worse than this morning?” he whispered to her.

“Worse,” Emily admitted, trying to hide the concern in her voice. “Just a bit through. Try not to worry so much.”

“We don’t have to do this. We can go find a doctor, or head to the hospital.”

“No, Rocky. No doctors. You know how I feel about doctors. I’ll be fine. We’ll get some aspirin and bandages at the supermarket when we stop to pick up Bethany’s car.”

Rocky threw his hands up in the air. Bethany got the impression it wasn’t the first time they’d had this argument.

“Now, get reading,” directed Emily as she sat carefully on the carpeted floor and opened her first book.

Bethany followed suit, and cracked open the cover of “Legends of Chinese Immortals”. She started flipping through pages, eyes darting quickly across the pages as she searched for a relevant passage.

It was Rocky that claimed success in “The Gods of the Sands and Seas”.

“Here we go. Thoth is the Egyptian god of wisdom, writing, science, magic, and a bunch of other stuff. He’s portrayed with the head of an ibis – a green bird with this wicked pointy beak – on the body of a man, and holds an ankh, the Egyptian symbol for life. He’s often associated with arbitrating disputes and…um…judgment of the dead. Well, that doesn’t sound promising.”

“No, but it gives us something,” Emily said, shutting her book with a gentle slam. “At least we know who he is. Are we ready?”

Bethany did not want to go through that door. She felt her heart pound in her chest and her knees grow weak. The faces of Daniel and Becka were floating in her mind as she remembered how they had held her down and forced the wine down her throat. Her Oracle Eye throbbed in her skull.

“Yes,” Bethany lied, her voice shaking. “I’m ready.”

Rocky nodded. “Let’s go.”

Emily opened the door to reveal steep stairs leading down towards the basement. The smell of musty books wafted up the passageway, reminding Bethany of things old and forgotten. Emily strode through the doorway without hesitation, and Rocky followed closely behind.

Bethany glanced back at the library, wondering what lay ahead for them. She pushed the haunting memories of Dolos’ Arena from her mind. “I will not let my new friends face the danger alone,” she told herself, her fists clenched at her side.

She strode through the doorway and shut it closed before she changed her mind.