“Why are we here?” Amanda asked, seemingly out of nowhere. We were just packing up, preparing to leave when she threw that question out.

  “What do you mean? Like, this place? This event? Or…” I trailed off. Nobody else seemed keen to broach this subject, which meant I had to be the canary.

  “This city.” Amanda continued firmly. “Why is it that we are here? Why were we chosen?”

  “For their amusement, obviously.” I said with a bit too much bite. My words had an effect. Serenity shuffled in discomfort, but Diana seemed unperturbed.

  “No, I mean… There has to be a bigger reason, right? Surely, there was a reason we were picked?” Amanda continued.

  “What makes you think that?” I pressed on. “It could have been chance, or any number of reasons. What makes you think there might be a criterion or a checklist that damn rabbit follows.”

  “I… I don’t know, but… Just before we were picked, or well, fell down the rabbit hole as they call it, just before that, you said you were driving. Diana said she was hiking, but… was that all? Surely…”

  She didn’t get to finish. “What are you asking?” Diana cut in with a growl. She looked tense. No, it wasn’t just her. Every single one of us were tensed. “That we share our life experiences?” She asked with clear wrath. Not only that, but there was a dangerous gleam in her eyes, like, if Amanda pressed this line of questioning, that she would really attack her.

  Seeing that, Amanda floundered. She too looked hesitant, but… “I just… It can’t be an accident that we were chosen… Perhaps if we shared what happened what had happened shortly after getting pulled here, maybe…” She finally forced out, but…

  “Is that so? Well, I have no interest in sharing. Do you?” Diana turned to ask me.

  “No.” I said with finality. “I have no interest in sharing my own life with any of you… no offense.” I said placatingly.

  “None taken.” Diana replied back, then looked to Serenity. “And you? Have anything you want to share?” Serenity looked shellshocked. About ready to break down.

  “No… No, I have nothing I want to share.” Her voice quaked, her eyes wide.

  “So, there you have it. None of us feel like sharing.”

  “Is…” Amanda said, then looked at each of us. “I understand. I’m sorry for pressing.” She bows.

  At that, the tension fades. We all released a collective sigh.

  “That’s fine and all… just, we’ve only known each other for a few hours now. Sure, we’re fighting side by side, but… you never know what’ll happen.” Diana follows up with, each of us nods in agreement. Amanda again apologizes before we head back out.

  It became apparent that we were now familiar with our own powers now. Amanda could control the vines to form lances, impaling zombies. Serenity could sweep out with water, cutting off heads or limbs. Diana had a constant swirling wind covering her pick, that allowed it to make large cutting swathes.

  Even my own abilities became more obvious. I could thicken the ice on parts of my body, creating plates of ice. I could now better control the cold emanating from the core of my being. Allowing me to freeze the ground or let out a haze of frozen mist that can freeze zombies in place. Of course, it wasn’t anything compared to what I could do when I touched them. Though, doing so was rather exhausting.

  With direct contact, I could freeze chunks of the zombies solid. Though, all these maneuvers were energy intensive. Instead of anything flashy, I focused instead on strengthening my body. A spear hand was a particular move, meant to strike weak spots, like the throat or gaps in the ribs. It meant forming my hand into a makeshift spear and shoving it forward.

  I still remember the sensation of breaking my fingers, over and over… Now, my hands lacked the familiar callouses, but the ice more than made up for it. My hand was now a very literal spear, capable of punching through flesh and bone with ease. My other hand had ice covering the forearm and was brought forward, making it a makeshift shield.

  With a thrust, my ice coated hand would punch through their skulls with ease. Ending them in a single movement. My shield would press forward, pushing back or redirecting oncoming zombies.

  Better yet, I could use other moves I had learned. My hand could become a blade, cutting and chopping through flesh and bone. The ice coating my arm made sure that I swung with maximum efficiency. Or that my fist could become a hammer, bashing aside my enemies. It was exhilarating, using my skills like so, even if my talents were poor.

  Overuse of my ice did have a side effect. It dulled my senses. It made it easier for me to use too much strength and hurt my body. I was already getting used to the feeling of having pulled a muscle or worse, but I was getting better with each fight.

  The hardest part was balancing the ice. It dulled not only my body, but my emotions. Cold logic would take charge and not for the better. I’d make dumb moves or push forward when it was better to walk back. I made the most logical moves, often trading blows, or allowing a zombie to bite, fully confident in my defense.

  Often, I’d suffer for it. Instead of making smarter, more energy intensive actions, I aimed for the most brutal and swift ends to every fight. It felt like I was trying to balance a scale. Keeping it balanced. Not too much, not too little.

  Too little ice and I find myself unable to react when I am surrounded. Too much and I began to act almost suicidally…

  A constant push and pull, ebb and flow, I suppose.

  With every fight, I could tell we were better being honed. No longer were our powers just gushing out for all to see. No longer were we wasting so much energy with simple maneuvers.

  Which also meant we could take on more zombies, and that our pace picked up. Rather than luring in groups, we would crash into them. Carve through the mobs of undead and leave none alive in our wake. Our pace quickly turned into a jaunt then a run.

  Hours passed as we made exceptional time while we closed on the mall. We barely slowed, even as we made detours to ransack shops and took small breaks. As we continued to kill, our prizes built up as well.

  Every tenth zombie was what we figured. It was clear when a coin dropped, since a flicker of starlight would waft off their forms and coalesce around us. It wasn’t a guarantee, but there seemed to be a system of sort in play. The coins were always within reach, but never bothered us or jangled in our pockets. They were the ultimate convenient currency.

  Already, we had a few dozen coins between us, but we were nowhere near the top ten on the ranking board. Every monitor in the city, regardless of if they were plugged in or not displayed the rankings. Every moment, every passing second, those at the top were accruing points without pause. Which further pressed us forward.

  We kept count and since the first culling, nobody else had died since. No doubt, everyone was coming into their own, like we had, and currently were. Another motivator that granted value to our grisly work.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Eventually, we arrived outside the mall. The surrounding area was filled with zombies standing shoulder to shoulder. They were milling about the mall, and from what we could see, atop a building that gave us a good view of the area, we could see that the mall had been barricaded.

  The buildings had plenty of eaves and ledges, that made it all too easy to climb up if need be. Diana could almost leap from the street to the second story of a building, using her wind to propel herself up. From there, an offered hand helped us work our way up.

  The interiors were trashed, and we didn’t want to alert the horde of zombies with excess noise.

  In the end, we took a break, our legs dangling over the edge while we ate and watched the zombies mill about.

  “I don’t think we can deal with that.” I added, unhelpfully.

  Diana concurred with a short grunt.

  “What if we were to lead them into an alley? Or, if we pulled them to a building while we sit on the roof, like now?” Amanda, the optimist spoke up, adding her own thoughts to the mix.

  “Mm, we could probably break open a hydrant, or I could blast water everywhere and have Prima freeze it. Assuming we lure them into an alley.” Serenity follows up.

  “Won’t work.” Diana shoots them down. She takes a moment to bite and swallow down her food, then continues. “If we lure them into an alley, even if we freeze the ground, they’ll just stampede over each other. Not just that, but I don’t want to deal with uncertain footing while killing undead.”

  “And the roof?” Amanda asks. “Wouldn’t that work?”

  “Maybe… the problem is, would they climb up to us, or would we starve out before we kill them all. We’re talking hours of work, and with how many calories we’ve been consuming…” She trails off. Each of us entirely aware of what she was alluding to.

  We’ve just about ransacked every store on the way here. We were eating almost constantly now. Power thrummed in our veins, of that, I was sure. If we were forced to bunker down and kill them… we would tire out long before they died out.

  “Is there really no other way?” Serenity asked, but nobody responded. We chomped down our food, drank our fill, all the while looking about.

  “Maybe there is…” Diana mutters and points. “See that?”

  We all look over, “Isn’t that a parking garage?” I answer for her.

  “It is, which means it should have cars inside and if we’re lucky an emergency fire hose hooked up to the water line.”

  Her words made some sense.

  “Freeze the ramps and let the zombies try and scale up?” I offer. “It’s a good idea, but… I’m not seeing how the cars will be useful.”

  Diana gave me a wide grin and explained her plan… it was a good one. I had to admit worse comes to worse, with how high the parking garage went and the open sides, we’d be able to escape to an adjacent building…

  “I’m on board with this.” I said, finishing my drink with a final swig.

  “I like that plan.” Amanda nods.

  “Me too!” Serenity said excitedly.

  “Alright, we’ll need to move around then.” Diana said, and once we finished eating that was just what we did. We moved around the periphery of the mall, making sure to avoid the singular horde surrounding it. It took a few more hours to arrive, and already the sun was beginning to set.

  We entered the parking garage via the stairwell door. This time, we took a more nuanced approach. Serenity’s control over her water had increased by leaps and bounds. She let the water flow into the lock, slowly making sure it was right.

  “I think that’ll do…” She stopped back, her hands extended to keep the water in shape. Then, I froze it. It crackled. For a moment, we feared it would break the lock, but it settled just fine. With a twist, the door unlocked, and we were in.

  We made our way up, and soon found the emergency hose. A quick test later and we knew it would work. The hardest part was getting access to the cars, but surprisingly, Serenity showed her stuff. Using water, she squirmed into the internals, made sure the alarms didn’t go off and gave us access.

  Based on how this was going, it almost seemed like Serenity had experience picking locks or stealing cars, but who was I to judge? Soon enough, we positioned them into place.

  “Whose bait?” I asked.

  “I’ll do it this time.” Diana said with a long stretch. “I’ve been getting faster, and a good run might help warm me up.”

  I didn’t argue. I didn’t think I could run very well right now anyway. Maybe in a straight line, but I was beginning to feel extremely stiff. Maybe it was the overuse of my ability, or… I suspected it was a symptom of something else entirely. I have been desk bound for the last month, and my meals haven’t exactly been good.

  Even if I was at peak health before… I don’t think I was ready for this much physical fitness. Well, either way I’ll just find out later.

  “Well, good luck. We’ll get the ramp nice and wet, then once you get here, I can freeze it.”

  “Sounds good. Just let me…” She groaned, doing an extremely long stretch. She breathed in and out, then considered before throwing her bag against the far wall.

  “Less weight.” She muttered, though, nobody asked. With a final stretch, she was off. A burst of wind under her heel sent her forward like a bullet, right down the ramp.

  While that happened, I was holding the hose. Just spraying it everywhere. I whistled as I went. Just enjoying the moment while I could. Amanda had the vines clinging to her body bloom and make seeds, which she planted around and letting them take root in the concrete. Serenity was prepping herself as well for what was coming.

  The first signs that Diana was successful were the screams. A thousand voices all raised together in a single loud howl. Then, I could hear their steps even from inside the parking garage. We waited with held breaths, even as we continued our work.

  The stampede grew closer. We knew because the sounds of their footsteps grew louder, like rolling thunder and the shaking of the structure around us as so many bodies ran with all they had.

  There was a single moment, where I imagined Diana failing at the last second. Tripping right before us and being ripped to shreds. I throttled those thoughts with ice. Burying them deep. I had my task. As did she.

  What felt like an eternity later, she came bolting up the ramp. A powerful tailwind following in her wake.

  “FREEZE IT!” She screamed out, not that she needed too. My hands planted down and I let the ice out. All at once, the flowing water froze over into dangerous black ice.

  Diana flew past, just barely avoiding the fate of having her shoes married to the concrete.

  Not a second later, the first zombies arrived. It was comical. Though, terrifying. Seeing them rush towards the iced floor and lose all traction and fall flat to the ground. I picked up the hose and kept going. Making sure the ice was nice and slick. Re-applying ice as I went.

  The zombies began to pile up near the bottom. Their fingers clawed and scrabbled at the ice, leaving faint marks. Some gained traction, only to have their hands or arms frozen in newly made ice. More zombies piled atop them, slowly, but surely building a literal bridge of meat to reach us.

  The sight was hair raising. Even with the ice keeping me cool and calm, I could feel my heart threatening to leap out of my chest. Still, I did my job.

  The zombies kept piling up. They came up closer and closer still. No matter how hard I worked, it didn’t matter. Serenity stepped up. With a breath, she unleashed a blast of water that cut through those at the top, pushing them back. Buying us time and space.

  Amanda joined in. The vines clinging to her body shot out and impaled or pushed zombies, compressing them further down. Occasionally, one of her tendrils would be grabbed, only to wither and snap when she stopped feeding it power.

  Slowly, the floor below was a literal mountain of meat. Most of it still squirming. The undead were beginning to climb around them, and around the ramp walls. Getting ever closer as they climbed atop each other like a swarm of ants. Their teeth clicking, screams tearing out of their throat. Eyes bulging and wildly flickering towards us. Limbs jerking back and forth.

  Then there was the overpower stench, a mix of old must mixed with water, which combined into the horrific smell of death warming over. Like garbage left out to stew in the hot sun in a back alley. Only made worse by the ice and water. We continued. We pushed. Eventually, it became too much.

  “Diana!” I called out.

  “I know!” And with that cry, I heard a telltale noise. I shifted out of the way. A car went rolling by and slid down the ice right into the mass of undead. Then another, and another. Creating a pile of metal and meat. Most notably however, was the smell. A new smell. The smell of gasoline.

  Gasoline trailed in the cars wake, their gas tanks having been punctured by Diana’s pick. Then, the breaks had been disengaged and they were rolled out. A few more were added to the pile. The flow of water was stopped. Even then, the rainbow film of light reflecting off the gasoline was clear.

  It coated the ice, it pooled below

  “That should be enough.” Diana said, stepping forward. A car cigarette lighter in hand. It was burning hot, and she pressed it into the gasoline at our feet. A second after the hot tip touched the gasoline, it lit. The entire ramp followed, the fire licking its way down towards the cars.

  A moment later, the smell of burning flesh and hair filled the garage. It was enough to make everyone gag, our eyes water. Still, we fought against that and stared. Hands clenched. The fire spread. The cars, burst into flame as engine oil caught fire.

  As the zombies burned, more zombies joined the pyre. The fire grew and grew. For the moment though, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. More cars were brought up and prepped and I kept using the hose. The water only made the fire worse, spreading the lit gasoline, sputtering and hissing when it landed. Surprisingly, the plan was going well.

  Then… we heard it. A new cry. A loud, horrible cry that ripped through the garage and had our ears ring.

  “The hell was that!?” Diana cried out. Her hands cupping her own bleeding ears. Then… as if to answer her, it arrived.