Granite Valley Mall

9:30 am

Granite City

Kyle scratched behind Gunther's ears and the dog panted happily. Lily was a curled up ball of fur beneath his bench. He had the countdown timer up and was watching it anxiously. Only Three and a half hours were left to go now.

It was crazy to Kyle that twenty-five hours could take so long to pass. Every second felt like it took minutes. Agonizing minutes felt like tiny eternities that were dragging him slowly forward into death.

The hardest part wasn't the creeping of time, however. No, the hardest part was not knowing what the countdown meant. Kyle had so many questions that spawned even more questions.

What was the system? What does it do exactly? It was something about a cycle and the Mana something or other, right? What were those terms? How could the system help him survive against all of those monsters?

Kyle gave up thinking about it with a sigh. Instead, he made the timer disappear and tried to enjoy being in the presence of people. Most of the survivors around him were preoccupied with their little groups of family or friends, talking quietly. Sprinkled throughout the groups were individuals, looking lost or intentionally secluded. Just like him, he realized.

Kyle could recognize a few customers from his morning sessions at the register but no one recognized him from what he could see. He didn't exactly try to be noticed either. He wasn't sure how he would react if someone had come up and spoken with him. He still felt shaken and was trying to keep himself calm.

Gunther's head lifted from Kyle's knee. He looked back down at the mall hallway they came in from. Kyle noticed Gunther would do so anytime the guns would fire. As soon as they stopped, Gunther would rest his head on Kyle's knee once more.

This time, however, the dog didn't put his head down again. Instead, he stood up and turned fully toward the hallway, his hackles raised.

Kyle had scolded himself mentally every minute since they hid from the giant under that truck. He had just been thinking about how smart his animals seemed but didn't heed their warnings. It showed how well they trusted him since they didn't just flee when he ignored them. He doubted he could have held their leashes for long if they had tried to get away.

He wasn't going to do that again. Gunther knew something and he needed to find out what.

Kyle slowly made his way over to the hallway opening, standing just off to the side looking down. He was too far away from the entrance to hear anything or see the shop he'd entered through. There was no gun fire either. It didn't help that two people were loudly having a conversation nearby.

"My gear totally fried. We were having so much fun too." The woman said.

"That must have been rough. You had so many viewers." The man replied.

Kyle didn't want to overhear someone else's business. He was more focused on the hallway. It had been too long since the guns had gone off. Just when he was about to wander that way, he heard a faint crashing sound.

Without looking at the pair directly, he turned to them and spoke loudly.

"I think we should move back. Something's wrong."

He took his own advice and stepped back a bit, still watching the hallway. When he did look around, Kyle noticed the woman had listened to him. The man just looked at him and crossed his arms.

"This place has been safe since the countdown started. I don't see there being a problem now." The man said, shaking his head. "Some new guy can't understand what we've been through."

Kyle looked at him and shrugged. "I may not have been here from the beginning, but I can tell you something is not right."

Before the man could respond, another noise sounded from down the hallway. This one was louder. Kyle rolled his eyes, but crept down the hallway, the man shouting after him. Kyle ignored him. He had to find out what was happening.

When he could see the department store's entrance, Kyle stopped to watch. He could hear the sounds clearer now. Loud thumps and crashes could be heard along with the indistinguishable shouts of people.

With another loud crash, a huge stand of clothing flew out of the shop and crashed against the floor. From the mess, a bloody and beaten Fredrick sat up.

Kyle rushed over to Fredrick without a thought.

"What the hell is going on?" Kyle asked, trying to help Fredrick to stand.

The man shook his head and nearly collapsed again. "It's too strong. Bullets bounced right off... Need to run."

Fredrick didn't pass out, but he was not in his right mind. He couldn't look right at Kyle and was too impaired to take the hand he was offered.

A scream made Kyle look up at the store. Across the entry, a soldier flew before crashing into a display just out of sight. A grunt noise followed and a creature walked into view.

Kyle's thoughts froze as he saw the Minotaur. He had to be eight feet tall, equipped with leather armor and a giant club. His horns curved up from his cow like face which had a nose ring. His fur was a chestnut brown and his eyes were the crimson red of a monster.

The Minotaur stomped across the entryway, disappearing after the soldier.

Kyle's brain went into overdrive and he dragged Fredrick back towards the people in the food court. When Fredrick's weight became less of a burden, he expected to look up and see the man from earlier. Instead, he saw the woman.

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Her familiar voice made him actually see her. "What happened?" Elisabeth Wynters asked, looking back at him with worry.

"It's a... Well. A Minotaur." Kyle said, dipping his head back down the hallway.

Elizabeth looked surprised but kept helping Kyle haul Fredrick. "An actual Minotaur?" Elizabeth asked, more curious than scared or skeptical.

Kyle only nodded.

Once they brought Fredrick far enough in that people started to notice, one of the soldiers who had been stationed in the food court began directing people the opposite way, towards a different store. Her fellow soldiers came and started to take Fredrick with the crowd.

The man grabbed at Kyle who looked back at him. "We need to stop it." Then his eyes unfocused and he was gone again, dragged out of sight.

Kyle looked up at the hallway leading towards the monster. He hesitated for a long while before readying his bat and walking back that way solemnly.

A soft hand grabbed his arm and he looked back at the e-girl who had helped him in so many ways since this whole crisis started. She wasn't wearing a wig, so her hair was a soft brown. He could never forget her face, even without the transformative makeup.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth had that same look of concern.

"What needs to be done." Kyle shrugged her off gently and continued forward. Both of his pets were walking with him. He had dropped their leashes, but they stayed by his side.

Crashing sounds echoed from the department store. When they stopped, the massive Minotaur appeared just past the entrance. He noticed Kyle and charged with a loud snort of rage.

In what felt like minutes but was less than a few seconds, the creature was on top of him, the wooden club it carried raised to crush him. Kyle jumped out of the way, barely avoiding being run over.

By the time Kyle could swing his bat, the Minotaur had his huge club up again and easily blocked the blow. In a backhanded swing, Kyle lost his weapon and barely managed to dodge the strike. His arms hurt from the vibrations of the weapons' impact.

Kyle panicked and lunged forward. He grabbed the giant club with both arms and tried to yank it away from the Minotaur. It didn't work. Instead, the Minotaur swung the club and Kyle was lifted off his feet, sailing through the air.

Kyle landed hard and slid a short distance into a small specialty shop nearby. He stumbled to his feet and looked at the creature. It was walking towards him slowly.

"Well, shit." Kyle cursed and looked around. He made a quick plan and acted. Kyle ducked out of the specialty shop and ran towards the department store the Minotaur had come from. He decided to lead the monster away from the refugees. He could at least buy them some time.

"That's right, big fella. Come this way." Kyle taunted.

To his surprise, the Minotaur didn't run after Kyle. The monster kept approaching slowly. So, Kyle slowed down, leading the creature into the store. He played cat and mouse with the Minotaur, dodging swings and moving away, keeping his pace equal with that of the creature.

More than once, a display stand saved Kyle's life. The poor mannequins did not deserve the gruesome deaths that befell them, but Kyle would rather not get crushed by a giant club. Every time Kyle would duck away and only plastic limbs would explode instead, the Minotaur would snort loudly. Kyle imagined steam coming out the monster's nose which helped him keep calm.

When the Minotaur became truly angry, he started moving faster. Kyle kept ahead of him, but could not do so forever. Soon, in trying to dodge an attack, Kyle tripped over a dead soldier. He barely moved out of the way before the club smashed down and a bone-shattering crack filled the air.

Kyle managed to grab the soldier's knife, but had missed his grab at the gun.

In the time he had been running, Kyle had noticed the small pockmarks on the Minotaur's gear. Some of the small holes had blood around their edges. Clearly, the bullets didn't bounce off without at least doing a little damage.

Kyle couldn't think of what to do. He had no doubt the knife was sharp enough, but the reach was so short. He would never get past that club.

The next time Kyle tripped, it wasn't on purpose. He took a wrong step and got tangled up in a destroyed display. He struggled to rise and realized he wasn't going to dodge the club this time. Instead, Kyle rose his arms in front of his face knowing it wouldn't save his life.

Just before the Minotaur brought down his weapon, a gunshot broke the silence. The bullet grazed the Minotaur's throat, tearing the leather armor there. The Minotaur turned and Kyle looked past the monster to see who had taken the shot.

Elizabeth held the gun Kyle had missed earlier but it was clicking, out of ammo. She was shaking but refused to run. The Minotaur stopped and looked between Kyle and Elizabeth, sizing them up. He must have decided Elizabeth's empty gun was the bigger threat than the prone Kyle and turned towards her.

Again, Kyle didn't think, he acted. He got up the jumped as high as he could, barely able to reach the Minotaur's neck. He stabbed the knife into the gap made by the gun shot.

Being large, thick and powerful didn't stop the blade from entering the Minotaur's throat. Kyle left the blade buried, letting go and backing up. He had to dodge two more attacks before the Minotaur collapsed, blood pooling underneath him.

Kyle sat and stared at the second living thing larger than an insect he had killed in less than a day. It wasn't any easier the second time. He expected it wouldn't be and hoped it never was.

Kyle didn't know how long it was before the body before him started to break down. He was captivated as the skin and armor rippled like a pond he had thrown a pebble in to. Over the course of a few seconds, the body became less substantial before disappearing entirely. Left behind was another pair of smooth stones like the set Kyle had gotten from the dog monster. He mindlessly picked them up and examined them. They were identical, just different colors. He put the stones into his pocket to join the other two.

"Sir." Elizabeth said, her voice tinged in panic.

Kyle's head snapped up. Elizabeth had broken him out of the trance he'd been in. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking again. She was pointing past him.

Kyle turned his head to see the barrier wall, blocking the mall off from the outside. It was shaking. A faint growling could be heard.

As Kyle stood, he grabbed Elizabeth's hand, pulling her towards the food court. Three very different monsters blasted through the barrier before they cleared the store.

Glancing over his shoulder, Kyle noticed a giant rat as big as a large dog that had three heads, a Pomeranian with a scaly snout and tail, and a black and red hamster that was as big as the rat. The sight made him turn and run harder.

Elizabeth needed no coaxing. She kept up with him, her grip on his hand tight.

They made it out of the store and were half way across the food court before Kyle could make out the foot falls of a large animal right behind them. He didn't have any steam left to pour on more, but somehow he did. It wasn't enough.

Something heavy crashed into Elizabeth who slammed into Kyle. They tumbled into a heap, something furry in the mix.

Once the pile rolled into a semblance of three different beings, the three headed rat had both Kyle and Elizabeth pinned. Each was struggling to hold a head away from their faces.

The free head snaked in and was going to bite Elizabeth. A growl sounded and Lily landed on that head, her claws and teeth tearing into the rat.

A loud bark made the rat jump in fear. Lily rolled off just in time for Gunther to bowl the rat over. They worked together to kill the rat quickly, blood spraying everywhere before they ran back to Kyle. They squared off with the remaining monsters and were backing up slowly.

Kyle stood and held the knife loosely with Elizabeth behind him. It would be a close fight and Kyle was unsure how things would turn out. The Pom seemed fast and strong in its movements while the hamster was making an aggressive squeak.

Two loud snaps sounded and bullet holes appeared on both monsters' heads. They slumped to the ground, dead. Both Kyle and Elizabeth turned and fled.

Fredrick was standing on an island that held fake plants.

"Where's the Minotaur?" His question was an order.

"It's dead." Elizabeth said quietly.

Kyle nodded in agreement. "It was close, but we got him."

Fredrick visibly slumped in relief. The soldiers with him relaxed a little.

"That's good because we are out of ammunition," Fredrick said. His words had a few of his soldiers tensing up.