The group didn’t last a moment longer than it needed to once they were outside. Thankfully, the monsters had left the parking lot unmolested for the time being. Survivors broke apart into their own tiny groups, no bigger than three or four, and ran towards their cars, minivans, buggies and more.

The only ones who didn’t budge were Victor, a confused Amadeus and the Asian-american man that had helped them.

“Thank you for leading me out,” the man said once they were relatively alone.

“You’re welcome? Don’t you have some place to be going?” Victor asked.

“Not particularly.”

And that was that.

“Vic, where’s Izzy?” Amadeus asked with worry in his tone.

“I’m… sorry, Am, I couldn’t save her.”

Amadeus’ mouth twisted into a frown, then anger as tears welled up inside. Victor placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and pulled him close for a hug. Amadeus returned the gesture, sniffing as he let tears out.

“Your family is still out there, Am. We can’t waste even a moment,” Victor told him. He opened his Samsung whatever and glanced at the time to find himself late. He needed to get back to the gun store, which was hopefully abandoned at that point.

“Yeah… yeah, they need me,” Amadeus replied. Victor threw him the keys to his mustang as he sized up the other man staying there.

“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” Victor asked. The man just shrugged, unfazed by anything around him.

“Would you mind if I came along with both of you? Seeing as you might need my help,” the man said respectfully.

“A name would be helpful first,” Victor said.

“Loki.”

“Like the Marvel character?”

“….Yes,” the man seemed embarrassed by the origins. Victor decided not to drill him further. He’d seen dumber names, he’d supposed.

“Victor,” he replied with a hand extended. Loki shook it and the both of them waited for Amadeus to pull the car in front of them.

Gilroy Gardens burnt up in smoke behind them as they drove off. Amadeus was in the shotgun seat while Loki took the back and none among them dared glance back.

To Victor, this was almost a victory. But then again, his standards for those had fallen massively over the years. Coming out alive with his limbs intact and not a single new scar to show for it was a bonus in his eyes. And the fact they’d accomplished it in time to come back to the store too.

But he knew those words wouldn’t sate the despair the others felt. They’d need to learn to steel themselves against it, only for so long as it took Victor to find a way out.

[Ability Unlocked: Sense of Time Boost]

****

The streets of Oakland had crowded up way faster than Victor would’ve thought. But at least the drive back had shown him what exactly had happened to lake Merritt. The bugs were taking bodies away from the streets and throwing them to the waters.

It was a gruesome sight, seeing so many of them float back towards the surface and just hang there. Victor grabbed the wheel tight while the other two stared out ahead into the desecration.

“We’ll need whatever weapons we can find, and then leave,” Victor said out loud.

“Your car seems well-stocked already. Couldn’t you have found weaponry as well?” Loki asked from the back.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“I…” he almost blurted out the secret. Stupid. “I was a doomsday prepper. Knew something like this would happen sooner or later.”

“That giant bugs would fall from the sky and start eating people?” Loki asked. The way he said it made him sound suspicious.

“Yes, I’m cracked in the head. Does it really matter now?” Victor asked.

Loki sat back in his chair. Victor looked at him from the rearview. It was drooping, but angled just right enough for him to catch the scowl on Loki’s face.

As they continued deeper into Oakland, Victor swerved onto the sidewalk. He hadn’t the luxury to park his car like Amadeus did before. There were people running past Victor while he drove, but he had to turn his eyes away from them.

He was too important. Too important to waste on lives. He told himself that he’d save them later, when he was strong enough, smart enough. It was just enough to drown out the screams.

Pulling up near the street where the gun store was located, Victor parked his Mustang. Though he didn’t remember the place exactly, he knew it by the name. Tommy’s Guns and Tactical was it’s name, and it had newly cracked windows.

Victor looked inside of it and saw Vintarics biting down on the weaponry from his car.

“We’ll need to kill those ones if we want the weapons. Are you both ready?” Victor asked.

“A-are you sure we can?” Amadeus asked. He looked terrified of the monsters.

“You’ve killed them before. Just aim and fire your Seed.”

“Only once! What if I miss?” Amadeus asked.

Oh… he’d almost forgotten that he’d had the Seed only for an hour or so.

“Loki will help, right?” Victor eyed the man.

“Sure.”

“And you?” Amadeus spoke once again.

“I’ll stick behind, I… can’t risk it when I don’t have any Seeds,” Victor told him.

Though Victor could feel the trepidation coming from Amadeus, he still urged the man out of the car. The three of them moved quietly across the pavement until they reached the outskirts of the shop. Victor thought he could almost feel the Weaponsmith Heart inside.

He felt incomplete without the Seed, like he was missing a limb. Thankfully, that would be rectified in just a bit.

“Now!” Victor whispered.

Loki and Amadeus both stood up. Lightning crackled across Amadeus’ fingers while invisible cuts sheared the Vintarics apart in an instant. The sound attracted some from the skies, but Victor ordered them inside before they could be spotted.

They hid behind the counter and Victor got a distinct sense of déjà vu. Only Isabelle wasn’t around this time. Next time, I’ll get her next time… he told himself. But if he could save his parents this time, would there really be a next time?

Get out of your own head, idiot.

“We made a hella lot of noise, so we have to hurry. Grab the AR-15s and Glocks, but leave the shotguns,” Victor ordered them. while they scoured the place, he searched around the Vintaric corpses. He turned each and every one of them over only to realize with horror that something was wrong.

No, wait… He kept flipping them over in the dim hope the Seed was obscured or covered in blood, but nothing. The Weaponsmith Heart simply wasn’t there.

“Damn it!” Victor cursed.

“What’s wrong?” Loki asked.

“It’s not here!” Victor said in anger.

“What isn’t?” Loki said.

“The Seed. It was supposed to be here!”

Loki looked even more suspicious of him then, and Victor decided to stop revealing himself.

“I saw a bug carrying one into the shop. I thought he’d have one,” he lied through his teeth. He knew Amadeus could tell, but the man didn’t speak up.

“I’ll protect you in its stead, Victor,” Loki told him. If he was trying to sound helpful, it wasn’t helping.

“Just take the weapons and let’s go. We need to get out of here as fast as we can,” Victor told them.

They hauled out of the shop carrying as much ammo as they could. With Victor’s help, they even avoided the spotlight of the patrolling Vintarics and made it all the way to the end of the street where their car was parked.

Large insect-like monsters hopped between the blocks while they revved the engine, some cross between a Titan and a Vintaric. It made them jump in their seats but Victor finally got the engine started and slammed his legs on the break.

“Where to now?” Amadeus asked.

“Straight to Charleston.”

“But my kids are in Washington,” Amadeus told him.

“So are my parents,” Loki added. Victor perked up for a moment, since that was the first bit of information about himself the man had readily offered.

“They’re close, so we’ll hit both locations,” he said as he swerved around a large insect in his path. It chittered loudly at him and Loki aimed his hand at the beast.

“Don’t! We don’t have the time,” Victor shouted.

They made it out of the town and got another clear look at the bloody lake that had formed. Victor glanced at the time and realized he’d been faster only by a bit. He also realized what exactly the purpose of the lake had been.

He could see the large beetle Vintarics jumping over to the coast. A feeder extended from their mouths that sucked in blood from the lake before they returned. It was a grotesque sight for Victor, even though he couldn’t look away. The blood was visibly flowing through their bodies, feeding them and strengthening them in some form.

Once the Vintarics were done, Victor saw them back away and continue their patrol. And his group too left the premises of the town, weapons in their trunk and another boost to Victor’s stats.

[Ability Unlocked: Strength Boost]