“Three things,” I said, laughing breathlessly as I strode up. “First off—don’t you dare say I killed your friend. He was dead—his blood squirted up to my hip. His fucking throat’s ripped out!” I pointed the bar at his throat.

  “Which I could’ve healed!” Jacob screamed.

  “The fuck you could’ve!” I snapped back, chest now boiling with white rage. “What level are you? Seriously—tell me.”

  Jacob clenched his jaw, saying nothing.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You locked up and ran away. You didn’t even try to help him. So don’t you dare.”

  “T-That’s not true,” Jacob said.

  “Hey, you need to calm down,” Tyler said. “Joel tried to save your life, and now you’re blaming us?”

  “‘Joel tried to save my life and almost got you killed,” I said. “I did save your lives and you’re treating me like a monster. There’s a huge difference between this and that—and if you can’t see that, you’re fucking blind.”

  “I could’ve saved him,” Jacob declared.

  “I don’t have time for this,” I said, turning toward 5th Avenue. “Make your way back. If you encounter another beast like that, don’t expect me to save you.”

  I ran toward 5th Avenue, the next street over, which would take me all the way to the library, which was three blocks away.

  “Wait!” Tyler yelled.

  I stopped and turned back. “If you say one word, I’ll punch you in the face.”

  “Whoa, I’m not gonna ask for your help,” he said, lifting his hands in surrender. “I just… I want to know what level that thing was. If we knew that… I think it’d smooth things out. You know? Exonerate you. We’d say, ‘Damn. He really did save us.’”

  “Exonerate me?” I slowly ran my tongue along the grooves of my back molars. “Are you seriously saying that saving you was a crime?”

  “Hey, you get what I mean,” Tyler said.

  “No, I don’t. And frankly, I think your request’s appalling. Instead of thanking me, you want something? Seriously? You’re seriously stupid.” I turned to the redhead. “You wanna come with me?”

  Tyler stepped forward. “What?”

  “Well you two are clearly gonna get her killed, and I don’t want that on my conscience, so…” I turned to her. “Well?”

  “Are you serious?” Jacob snapped. He turned to the redhead with a grim smile that said, ‘Isn’t that funny?’ She wasn’t laughing. “Wait… Remy… you can’t seriously be thinking about it. He’s clearly trying to divide us.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “The good people from the idiots.”

  Remy hesitated, grimace deepening by the second. She then looked away. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I really do. But I’d never be able to live with myself if I left and they died. I don’t want to live with that on my conscience.”

  I appraised her thoughtfully, equal parts impressed and annoyed. “I respect that,” I said, but in my mind, I categorized her as someone who would rather die than face social consequences, and I found that mildly disgusting. Feeling ugly for thinking that way, I ran up Cherry Street to 5th Avenue and hooked a left, weaving between crashed cars on the way to the library.

  I thought that there would be a wall of zombies on the last two blocks, but at some point, when I was asleep or in the stairwell, other survivors had killed most of them. There were two blocks of corpses I had to wade through, many riddled with slash marks or strange fire attacks that burned corpses but not the surroundings. Something had picked up a car and thrown it, bowling over thirty zombies in a single throw. There were even craters in the asphalt that looked like small meteorites created them.

  I can’t believe I slept through all this, I thought, slicing two zombies in half as I jogged through. I supposed I was fifty floors up, surrounded by soundproof glass designed to withstand hurricanes—but still. A mythical battle had raged while I was sleeping. If I blacked out near enemies—I was going to die. Guaranteed.

  I shivered, continuing down the last block.

  The zombies were dead, but there was a pack of eight mutated wolves outside the door. They were likely pet dogs before mana mutated them like the Prowler. Now, they were the size of ponies, and they were eating fresh human corpses.

  I checked the time:

  00:06:14

  There were six minutes left. I didn’t have the time or patience to wipe them out. Feeling charitable, I shot forward, chopping the legs off one of them. I’d leave it for Remy to kill. I then chopped through another’s skull.

  You have killed Level 19 Golden Wolf

  Level 19—that’s not that bad, I thought. But I should kill another.

  I slashed through a third, and considered killing the rest, since it didn’t harm me to do it, but the wolves jumped back, growling and barking and walking backward (as all dogs seem to do when they feel cornered), warning me not to get closer. They were too far away to kill, so I decided to move on to the library.

  The Seattle Public Library was likely chosen for the barricade because of its unusual protection. The entire building was a black-and-silver masterpiece of abstract geometry, with walls jutting out at strange angles. All around it was a fishnet of steel diamonds with small windows within them. I supposed that a human of my strength could kick through one of the diamond windows and crawl in, but most people and beasts weren’t of my strength. That meant people had to enter through the front door—

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  —and the front door was locked.

  Not literally locked: but it might as well have been.

  Unlike the walls, there was a shimmering barrier on the door to prevent it from breaking, and there was a network of Chosens who had found rope, tied it to the door handle, and played tug of war with superhuman to ensure no one could pull it open.

  The team had clearly been doing it for a while, judging by the eight fresh corpses outside the door—and the battle marks. Many of the diamond windows had been shattered or melted with magical skills at one point, but the Chosens inside had plugged the holes with heavy tables and chairs. There was a full barricade, twenty feet high, right through the doors. It was a sinister marvel—and I wasn’t about it.

  I casually pulled the door handle and heard people scream, “Pull harder!” as it opened. The group wasn’t just trying to keep the wolves out—they were working harder to kill me. That made me sick.

  A wolf attacked me while I was busy. I whirled around in a fury, cocking my hand and slamming it in the forehead. Its cranium buckled like a crushed soda can, and its brain blasted out of its skull from the hydrostatic force. It was a gruesome scene: blood shooting out in a twenty-foot arc, splashing the windows of a crashed Ford Mustang that stood out proudly amongst the sea of corpses.

  The other wolves backed up again, this time turning away. They saw Remy’s group and decided to focus on them.

  I returned my focus to the door. Annoyed, I yanked the handle with my full strength. The people playing tug of war with the door flew forward, crashing into the barricade. They screamed in pain from the rope burn I gave them. One said, “Grab the rope!”

  I responded by push-kicking the barricade. Whole chairs and tables blasted across the room, forcing the others to scream and collapse.

  A red pop-up entered my vision:

  Warning! The library is a safety zone. Your action has been deemed self-defense, but additional actions that harm others will result in elimination.

  Duly noted, I thought, knocking over chairs and tables as I pushed through the barricade. I turned to a man with his hands up in a defensive boxing stance. “Move,” I commanded, and he stumbled backward onto his butt.

  The confused Chosens took action. “He’s okay!” a man said. “Let him through and rebuild the barricade!”

  “Don’t,” I barked. “If someone tries to bar this door again, I’ll kill them.”

  “But we have to!” a woman pleaded. “Wolves got in earlier and killed a bunch of people!”

  “So you murdered people instead? Do you even understand how warped that is?” The group backed away, staring at their rope-burned hands in shame. I strode to the staircase. The Seattle Public Library was built on an incline so steep that the 5th Avenue exit was on the third floor of the building. So I looked down to the 4th Avenue exit on the first floor and saw another tug-of-war team set up. I then glanced for signs of a struggle. There was indeed blood on the floor, but from the smears, I could tell that it was only enough for two people, three at most. I walked back to the 5th Avenue entrance, expecting Remy to open the door at any moment. Even if I didn’t care what happened to her teammates, I did empathize with her.

  I looked out the door and saw the team stuck about a hundred feet from the door, wolves crashing into Remy’s barrier.

  Remy had created a barrier around her team, holding back five massive wolves as the other two stood around uselessly. The redhead saw me and stared at me pleadingly.

  I checked the time remaining.

  00:03:02

  I prepared to help her, but stopped when I heard Jacob scream, “What are you doing? Help us!”

  Yeah, fuck that. I turned and shut the door. Remy chose to follow the people who attacked me—now, she had to bear the consequences.

  That’s what I thought, but I stopped, gritted my teeth, and rolled my neck. Am I really gonna let them die? I wondered.

  Sure, Jacob was a piece of trash—but would I really let three people die because I hated him? Of course not! It was disturbing that I had considered letting them die unnecessarily. It was understandable that my mindset had warped from the amount of death and killing—but still. It had only been twenty-four hours. I had to be careful not to let myself become too distorted.

  I unbuckled my satchel and retrieved two steak knives. Then, I opened the door again.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a black man said, approaching me. “Time’s almost out. If you get caught up in more bullshit, you could get eliminated.”

  I studied the man. He had dreads in a semi-looped bun and carried a flute case in his hand. A curious individual.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll take care of it from here.”

  —Remy—

  Remy should’ve gone with that man. She really should have. If she did, she’d be in the library—safe and sound. Instead, she was surrounded by four hellhounds, fur matted thick with blood and dirt, each slamming their massive bodies against her cracking barrier. At any moment, they would shatter her weak defenses and then play tug with their limbs, ripping them off in a grotesque, Machiavellian execution.

  “How the hell are these things so strong?” Tyler screamed.

  “They’ve been eating Chosens!” Remy snapped back. “That’s how!”

  “Wait!” Jacob said. “Do you mean that that guy got stronger by killing Jo—”

  Remy slapped Jacob. She was at Level 21, so the slap sent him flying into the barrier. It wasn’t a good look—but she couldn’t stand one more word from the idiot who signed their death warrant!

  “Remy!” Tyler screamed.

  “Shut up!” Remy snapped, pressing toward the library between attacks. “If you have time to complain, you have time to pray!”

  Tyler laughed darkly, picking up Jacob. “Okay, I’ll do it. What god do you want me to pray to?”

  “To that man, you fucking moron! God only helps those who help themselves!”

  The barrier cracked in a violent web of golden light. Just a few more hits would shatter it—and they were nowhere near the door. One slam. Two. Just before the third hit, a streak of silver light cut through the air. It hit the wolf and pierced through it, blasting out of the beast’s skull before cutting through her barrier.

  Her mind blanked out. What?

  Then came another streak, and another wolf died in a spray of blood. The wolves jumped out of the way, turning toward the door. The man who saved them was in the doorway, small knives in hand.

  A pop-up flashed in her mind:

  Notice! There is one minute left until the end of the….

  Remy didn’t read the whole message. The wolves were distracted, time was running out, and adrenaline was high. So she acted.

  “Now!” she screamed, sprinting past the wolves on the way to the door. The beasts gave chase, but Remy was faster. She flew forward with surreal speed, clearing the last two hundred feet before running through the door. As she did, she made eye contact with the man who saved her—not once but twice—expecting him to slam the door on Tyler and Jacob. He didn’t. He even rushed out, grabbed the two, and threw them inside, shutting the door just as the wolves crashed into it, violently cracking the glass.

  A moment later, everyone received a new red window.

  Tutorial “Regroup at Seattle Public Library” has ended.

  Remy looked out the window. Behind the wolves was a party of three who ran toward the door at full speed, desperate to make it in time. They didn’t. Their bodies suddenly distorted, marbling together like mixed paint before blinking out of existence. Only one word came into Remy’s mind when she saw the scene play out: Elimination.