"Try what?" Natalie shrieked, drawing her pistol and training it on the approaching corpse. "If that thing gets a hold on you, I think we all know what it's going to do!"

  “Just trust me, okay?" Samantha said firmly. "I think I have an idea of what’s going on, and I need to test it on something that won't jump on me if I screw up.”

  “Alright,” Natalie said coldly, her pistol still trained on the shambling figure.

  “If it gets too close, you can shoot it. I’ll stay out of your line of fire.” Samantha stepped forward and Natalie frowned but didn't argue. She kept her aim steady on the approaching menace.

  The zombie was less than twenty feet away now, still dragging its feet at a sluggish, shuffling pace. Adam figured a brisk walk could outrun it, but he still had no desire to get close, or find out what happened if it managed to grab someone.

  Samantha moved cautiously, circling wide to keep her distance. The creature was locked onto her, shuffling in pursuit as she took slow deliberate steps backwards. She made one full loop, then stopped about twenty-five feet away. The zombie turned to follow and the motion was too much for its poor coordination. Its legs tangled and it went down in a heap. After a moment it clawed back its way back to its feet and began lurching forward again.

  Natalie moved to intervene, but Samantha held up a hand. "Don't, Nat. Don't get its attention. I need it to focus on me." She backed away a few steps, then raised her left hand and pointed at the corpse with two fingers before closing her eyes. Adam glanced nervously between the two women, wearing an expression of confusion and concern.

  "What the hell is she doing?" he hissed.

  Natalie didn't respond. Her eyes never leaving the creature.

  The thing shuffled closer, one dragging step at a time. Each second felt like an eternity to Adam as he stood frozen, watching the scene unfold. He could sense Natalie vibrating with tension beside him, her finger locked on the trigger as she kept the pistol trained on the advancing corpse. It kept coming.

  Twenty feet.

  Fifteen.

  Ten.

  Still, Samantha didn't move. She just stood with her fingers outstretched.

  “Fuck this,” Natalie growled, stepping forward.

  Samantha’s eyes snapped open, and she spread her fingers. A ball of molten light no larger than a dime rocketed from the space between them, striking the zombie in the forehead with sharp hiss. After a second the top of its skull burst like a grenade had gone off inside. The body stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground, oozing half-congealed blood onto the pavement.

  Adam's mouth dropped open. He stared wordlessly as Samantha swayed, blinking, looking mildly dazed.

  “That was intense…” Samantha said as Natalie rushed to her side and steadied her. She straightened up and let out a slightly manic giggle. “I thought so. All those years of reading and believing paid off, I guess.”

  Samantha wiped her nose. Her hand came away bright red with blood. Natalie stared at it, then gently reached out and wiped at a thin line of blood trailing from Samantha's ear.

  "That's strange," Samantha said, still staring at the smear on the back of her hand.

  Natalie guided her back to where Adam still stood frozen and he finally shut his mouth. “I’m not even going to address what just happened. You’re a little crazy," he said, sliding his gaze off of the corpse and glancing in their direction. “Let's just get inside. I can't fucking handle anything else today.”

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  He opened the door and the two women headed up the stairs. Adam lingered, scanning the street to make sure nothing, human or otherwise, had seen them. Satisfied they weren't being watched or followed, he grabbed the last bag and his bat, then shut the heavy door behind him.

  He stared at the deadbolt. The door was solid and well built, but the tiny metal pin separating them from the outside world suddenly felt like a joke. Still, he flipped the lock and trudged upstairs, already thinking about how to reinforce it.

  “Do either of you mind if I bar the door?” he asked, only half joking.

  Several minutes later he'd screwed a pair of 2x4s salvaged from a failed project the year before, straight into the walls, bracing the condo's front door like a siege was coming. At this point, the wall would give before the door did.

  "We might be screwed if there's a fire," he muttered, "but this should help."

  He trudged back up the stairs, dropped the drill onto the counter, and collapsed into a large chair across from the couch, where Samantha and Natalie were sipping tea.

  "I see you found the mugs."

  Natalie looked at him over the top of a mug that read “Bee Happy” with two bees and their stingers making up the letter Ps. She took a long sip, then glanced at Samantha, who sat just a few inches away. The smell of herbal tea filled the air as Natalie set her mug down.

  "So," Natalie's voice cracked, and she cleared her throat before trying again. "Do you want to tell us exactly what happened out there? I can accept monsters, walking corpses, and random voices, but... how did you do that?"

  Samantha frowned, taking an equally long sip from her mug before setting it beside Natalie's. "I could say it's hard to explain, but it's not. It’s easier if I show you. Adam, do you have a piece of paper?"

  Adam stood and went to the kitchen, where he found a third steaming mug next to the warm stovetop. He grabbed a sheet of paper off of the refrigerator and carried both back to the living room. Handing the paper to Samantha, he sat down again, warming his hands on the mug.

  "So, at the bookstore, we had dozens of books on meditative practices, New Age spirituality, and even a few on the occult and otherworldly stuff," she explained. "Most of it was garbage. I only kept it around because it was popular with the teen crowd, and they made up most of our weekend sales." She paused to take another sip, seeming to draw strength from the brew. He noticed her hands trembling slightly as she sat the mug down.

  "I always liked the books on meditation, though. I practiced a few of the techniques myself. One stuck with me. It talked about using magic." She gave a small shrug. "Not real magic. The author even said that was impossible. But she argued that pretending you could shape reality with your mind was a good way to silence the rest of the world. Afterall, if your imagination has gone that far, how can you focus on anything else?" Natalie nodded along, and Adam suspected she'd heard some of this before.

  "I started doing it almost every day. It helped pass the time when the store was dead, or when things were just... a little too much." As she spoke, Samantha began tearing small strips from the edge of the paper Adam had given her. "Mostly, I just imagined moving things with my mind. Sounds kind of stupid, right? Putting in all that mental effort just to go pick the thing up afterward. That's what I was doing right when we heard that voice."

  Samantha dropped a small handful of paper fragments onto the table and nudged them into a neat pile. She leaned forward, pushing it toward the center of the coffee table, then sat back in her seat.

  "Before today, it was all impossible. But now..." she trailed off, staring intently at the scraps.

  The silence stretched, growing uncomfortable as Adam and Natalie waited.

  "It's hard to do it with you both watching," she mused.

  Adam chuckled despite himself, and Natalie joined in. Even Samantha cracked a grin, though she didn't take her eyes off of the pile.

  Their laughter faded as the pile abruptly shivered.

  A single torn piece lifted from the center, floating slowly upward. It hovered just above the table, gently spinning in the air.

  “Holyfuckingshit,” Adam whispered, the words running together as one.

  Natalie’s eyes went wide and she sat very still, staring at the floating scrap of paper.

  “Adam, please hold out your hand. Palm up,” Samantha requested calmly, but an edge of strain leaked into her voice.

  He gave her a bewildered look, then slowly complied.

  Samantha's eyes narrowed, locked on the floating scrap. It drifted through the air with smooth precision and finally came to rest in Adam's palm. His hand twitched when it landed, as if he was afraid it would sting him.

  Without missing a beat, Samantha picked up her mug and resumed sipping her tea.

  Adam stared at the paper fragment in his hand, then up at her, dumbfounded.

  "How did you...?" Natalie said, breaking the silence.

  “No,” Adam said firmly, cutting her off before brushing the paper off of his hand. “No. I need a minute. You two can talk, not that you need my permission. Samantha you might need to repeat some things, but this… I need a minute.”