Chapter 13

On Saturday, I spent three hours in the PRA Doctor’s office, once they decided I wouldn’t die of cancer the next day, I was taken across the hall to get fingerprinted and get my retina scanned.

I also was told that I was now a GS-12 and ranked as a senior special agent. Apparently, the PRA used the same ranking system as the FBI. I wondered just what percentage of their operation was stolen from the Bureau.

Probably most of it.

Subway filled me up before my practice session at UE.

I recognized two of my girls as they acted the part of zombies along with fifty other mercs.

I laughed at Natalie after lightly tapping her on the bum with my practice axe, “wow, an anemic zombie,” she wasn’t pleased, based on her caustic and unflattering response to me. Besides those two, everyone else was at least 20 pounds heavier and over two inches taller, even the women. They had a long way to go before I considered them in good enough shape to go very deep.

With David’s team at rank three or higher with their Weapons, we were much more efficient. The poor volunteer zombies were ruthlessly crushed.

That evening, I was able to spend dinner alone with the Terrible Trio, listening to their complaints of being overworked and underappreciated.

I smiled at their complaints, enjoying their company, “I miss my nightly back rubs.”

“Fine, is that all you see us as?”

“Cute maids and masseuses. Yup,” I grinned at Nat’s protest.

They cheerfully beat me up, which lowered their tensions and stress levels. Kate’s report was similar to Heather’s. They were working hard, but were too out of shape to keep up with everyone else.

“Remember, they all have years of training ahead of you. Just keep working and you will catch up. You also have the Gates. None of the regular employees do.”

“We went in a Violet Thursday after school, with a trainer.”

“What did you get?”

“Centipedes and millipede boss. They weren’t bad. Kate and I have staffs, Jude had trouble striking that low. None of us were allowed to even allowed to use spells. That sucked.”

“How many floors?”

“Just two. We were stopped a lot. Corporal Moralis helped us fight better. She’s good.”

“Does she use a staff to fight?”

“Yeah, she is a lot better than we are.”

I left them to their homework. Their senior high school finals were in a few weeks, not that any of them really cared.

Sunday when I arrived, a very nervous Kate stood in combat armor along with the four others of David’s team. Or should I call it Heather’s team?

“Francis had to go somewhere,” she blurted nervously, giving the reason for her inclusion on our Indigo Portal run with the main team.

“Cool, welcome to the club,” I grinned.

With a few supporting words, David calmed Kate down. We then headed off to the north side of Chicago in UE’s transit van and into the Indigo Gate, starting on the second floor.

Right after entry, Kate Blessed us. Her single spell covered the whole team unlike outside of the dungeons. Everyone paused to check their Status and click on the description. Kate received speculative smiles from the others and a grin from me. ‘Strong resistance against debilitating effects’, could never be easily dissed.

Three hundred and fifty zombies were killed faster than we accomplished the last run, in five minutes less time. The floor took 34 minutes total. We went from killing a little over seven zombies a minute to ten per minute, a 40% increase.

“Alright people, team up and go search, Kate, go with Heather,” David ordered, after the ghouls were killed and searched. Three coffee cups worth 100 silver total plus one Marble. An average, but still good run. The marble alone was worth it.

Level 3. We entered the stairs and headed down with some idea what we faced yet collectively uneasy. The Mall that we discovered ourselves in was only two levels high. Thankfully. The flickering lights were mostly burned out and the skylights in the roof revealed a darkened overhead sky.

Low light environment with eerie flickering lights didn’t help our situation or our mood. Movement could be seen everywhere we looked. Standing out in the open of the lower level wasn’t the best place to start.

David picked a direction, “Macy’s first. Jason leads, Ed back, Kate center. Diamond formation.”

I began walking to my left. We made it halfway there before zombies started falling out of the sky disrupting our formation. Or at least jumping down from the second floor. I ran to the VS to my right and stood guard, “get in. I’ll hold while you reform and make sure no one is inside the store.”

“Edna, George, clear the store.” David directed.

I didn’t pay attention to whatever else was said by our illustrious leader, as twenty zombies rushed at me while I tried to cover a twelve-foot opening by myself. My new Axe enhancement of Sharpness easily sliced through the outstretched arms. Appendages flew in all directions until I learned to better control my swings; control which began in the last level and continued on to this one.

‘Practice made perfect’ or so they said. Which I was still a long way from, but I did improve aiming through their outstretched arms and into their heads or chests. My Axe rocked against unarmored flesh and skulls. David slid to my left and Heather to my right. Kate’s healing shots dropped one zombie per every non-appendage hit. She fired off her attacks slower than Heather did, but hers were more effective.

I grinned at Kate’s effectiveness and aim but kept fighting. Eighty zombies ended up dying under our defense. Only seven were found inside the destroyed lingerie store, letting Edna regain her place at my side replacing the steady Heather early in the fight.

A screech sounded off on the other side of the mall, alerting us to the presence of at least one ghoul and probably all four. Or eight. Depended on how messed up the floor was.

Taking a few minutes to heal David’s wound and refresh ourselves, we took a standing breather. Continuing towards Macy’s under the second-floor balcony, we searched each store as we journeyed towards the large department store.

There were easily two hundred zombies in the chain department store alone. Maybe three. Using a cashier’s counter as a break, we withstood group after group that sought us out.

“Wait,” Kate called out while passing a fallen tie rack. Finding a clean pair of ugly green socks, she passed them over to Heather to store in her inventory for distribution later.

“Unknown footwear,” Heather read off. On David’s team, she kept the magic and extra silver during our runs.

The second level of Macy’s wasn’t much better than the lower level. Even before we crested the unworking escalator, a group of forty zombies rushed us. Their commotion drew others. Twenty minutes and uncounted zombies later, we took a much-needed breather in a corner behind a cashier station. I’d have to revise my guess on how many zombies were in Macy’s, by a lot.

Chewing on a trail mix bar, a body fell from the rafters above landing on George.

Screams, shouts, yells and a flurry of activity, George was a bloody mess seconds later. The ghoul boss’s head flew across the sales floor and bounced off the sealed off exit door. Edna was closest, severing the undead leader’s head, while I reflexively batted it away with the flat blade of my Axe.

Kate was already healing the messed-up Fire Mage. His Mage Armor and regular armor proved little assistance against a bite to the face and four sets of claws to the chest.

Everyone besides me separated from the pair, looking around for other threats, mostly up. I stood above Kate and made sure no one came close, while she worked on the fallen man.

Twenty minutes later, Kate sat on her ass, fatigued, “I don’t think I can fix his face. His chest is a mess with a lot of broken ribs. But he won’t die,” she gave her report between gulps of Gatorade.

“He will live and plastic surgery will make him not so ugly,” David joked.

An out of breath Kate half-laughed, “I have no Mana left.”

“Rest then.” I suggested. We weren’t in a hurry.

The group returned from the mild scattering. David handing off the Marble from George’s attacker to Heather.

Breathing out in sadness, the heavily-bandaged man’s head laid in her lap, “The ghoul took a huge bite out of his cheek. There is a hole in his face in the mouth area. His cheek,” Kate corrected herself. “His chest has deep gouges in the chest, his armor is shredded. I stopped the bleeding, but I don’t know what else to do. He isn’t dying, but I don’t know how long he will be out. The broken ribs will need forever to heal.

“According to the list, I am supposed to give him morphine, but we might need him awake to leave. Or go anywhere. What do you want me to do?”

“Where did it come from?” David asked.

“Those walls over there don’t go all the way up to the ceiling. They end at the rafters, he probably climbed the walls and punched through the ceiling and climbed along them.” Heather reported. “We were told by Jason that in their first encounter with the ghouls, a ghoul was in the rafters in the auditorium, remember?” she sounded like she blamed both herself and David for the mess-up.

“Is there anywhere we can hide George, until we clear the dungeon?” Heather asked.

“Only if we can lock the door. They can find us even if we are hiding. Either by smell or by hearing.” I guessed; I wasn’t sure. We had never went so far as to test their senses.

“If it’s by hearing, he will be fine in a corner office or dressing room as long as he is asleep. If it is by smell, nowhere is safe,” Edna stated, as if her companion’s death was a matter of time. Her grim demeanor spoke volumes.

As much as I disliked the attitude, I privately agreed with her.

“Anyone?”

“The elevator. They are metal and mostly sealed, I think,” Kate suggested.

“Good idea,” David encouraged her. “Anyone know where it is?”

“By the bathrooms and jewelry,” Heather spoke up, “over there.”

“Edna get a few jackets from over there. I saw a pile on the floor. We can use those as bedding. Jason, carry George over there, and be careful not to jostle him too much.” David directed us.

The elevator was three quarters to the second floor. Prying open the doors created a lot of noise but we had no better options. We made a nest out of the cleaner clothes found scattered around the floor. David gave George a shot of morphine in the arm before closing the doors behind him. That was much harder than it should have been. Unfortunately, we had to leave a small gap. Wishing him luck, we moved on somberly.

We decided to stay on the second level and search, zombie rain sucked and the team could not afford to leave anyone behind to watch over him.

Unless we split the party in two. My suggestion was shot down. I thought that Edna and Heather could keep him alive while we hunted.

A wave of zombies met us in the food court accompanied by five ghouls. I cast Refraction and stepped forward into the horde. I needed to draw the bosses’ attention. The ceilings were too high and we were too exposed, even if we were behind the ice cream shop counter, this fight would be a mess as we were too open.

My bellow worked. The Ghouls even helped out by crushing any zombie in their way. I killed two before a fallen zombie that someone else attacked, bit my calf. Limping, I blocked another who rebounded off my Axe and spell, sliced the fallen zombie’s head off before blocking another incoming Ghoul.

I stepped back and spiked a second zombie was trying to use my leg as a chew toy, taking a claw swipe from a Ghoul across the forearm as a consequence. The strike mostly hit the plastic guard leaving a little pain and that was it. Kate saved me from the sixth ghoul with a shot in its chest, drawing the boss’s complete attention. I had to react quickly before it leapt over us in fanatic pursuit of my favorite Healer. The rest of the team were too busy to protect her. My Axe took its leg off mid leap which was all I could do for her at the time.