Nox watched Ava run down the hallway like her hair was on fire. Which, you know, was probably fair, considering her life depended on it. The dog thing was right on her tail, snapping at her heels every few steps.
He could have just gone back to hunting monsters on his own, sure. But honestly? This was way more entertaining. Watching someone who had spent years ignoring his suffering now scramble for her own life… it felt pretty good. Not good enough to actually, you know, help her, but definitely good enough to tag along and see what happened next.
He kept his distance, moving quietly from one wrecked classroom to another. The hallways were a total disaster zone anyway, so it was easy to stay hidden behind overturned lockers and piles of broken desks.
"Help me!" she screamed as she ran past a row of classrooms. "Please, someone help me!"
A couple of doors were still closed, probably with people hiding inside. None of them opened. Smart choice, really. Why risk your neck for someone else when those things were running around?
Nox almost laughed. 'So that's what it feels like to ask for help and get nothing back.' The irony was so perfect it was almost beautiful.
The dog was definitely gaining on her. It was one of the smaller ones, but still way bigger than any normal dog. Its mouth was hanging open, drool dripping onto the floor, and those oversized teeth looked ready to tear into something soft.
Ava turned another corner, and Nox heard her footsteps slow down, turning into a desperate scramble. He quickened his own pace, peering around the corner to see what was up.
She'd run herself straight into a dead end. The hallway just stopped at a big wall where they were doing some construction work before the world went to hell. Plastic sheets were hanging down and tools were scattered everywhere, but there was no way out.
She spun around just as the dog thing rounded the corner behind her. She was trapped, squeezed between the wall and the monster, breathing hard and looking around desperately for an escape that just wasn't there.
"Stay back," she said to the creature, like it could understand English. "Just… stay back."
The dog tilted its head at her voice, then started moving forward, slow and confident. It knew she had nowhere to go now. It could take its sweet time.
Nox settled in to watch the show. This was about to get interesting.
Ava backed up until her shoulders hit the wall. The plastic construction sheets rustled behind her as she pressed against them. The monster was maybe ten feet away now, still coming at that slow, predatory pace.
"Please," she whispered, the word barely a sound. "Please, I don't want to die like this."
The creature was done playing. It crouched down and then lunged right at her.
And that's when something really weird happened.
She threw her hands up in front of her face, and suddenly there was this red glow all around her. Not just a little flicker, either. Her whole body was surrounded by a red aura that pulsed like a freaking heartbeat.
"What the hell?" Nox muttered under his breath, leaning out a little more to get a better look.
The dog was still in mid-air when Ava thrust her hands forward. A stream of red fire, like from a flamethrower, shot out from her palms and hit the creature dead center. The thing didn't even have time to yelp. It was just completely engulfed in flames.
The fire wasn't normal, either. It burned way too hot and way too fast. In like, two seconds, the monster was nothing but a pile of smoldering ash on the floor.
She just stood there, staring at her hands like she couldn't believe what had just happened. The red aura around her flickered a few times and then just vanished.
"Did I just do that?" she said out loud, her voice shaky. "What the fuck did I just do?"
Nox stepped out from behind his hiding spot, letting out a low whistle. "Well, well. Looks like I'm not the only one who got some upgrades."
Ava spun around when she heard his voice. Her face went through about five different expressions in two seconds. Surprise, then anger, a little bit of relief, and then right back to full-blown anger.
She stomped over to him, her fists clenched at her sides. "You fucking asshole. You followed me this whole time and didn't help?"
"Pretty much, yeah." He was still looking at the pile of ash where the monster used to be. "That was some impressive fire-punch, by the way. Where did that come from?"
"Don't you dare change the subject." She got right up in his face, close enough that he could see how royally pissed off she was. "I could have died back there, and you just watched like it was some kind of show."
"It was a show," he said, finally looking at her. "A pretty good one, too. Better than anything on TV."
She looked like she was about two seconds away from hitting him. "Are you completely psychotic? What is wrong with you?"
"Lots of things, probably." He shrugged, completely unbothered. "But right now, I'm more interested in how you just shot fire out of your hands. Did you get one of those blue screen things, too?"
She blinked at him, the anger on her face fading into confusion. "Blue screen things? What are you talking about?"
"The system messages. The stats and skills and all that game stuff." He studied her face, a frown starting to form. "You really don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"
"I have no idea what you're saying." She held up her hands and stared at them again, like they belonged to someone else. "I was about to die, and then… this happened. I don't know how or why."
He frowned. 'That's interesting. I got my system right before the earthquake. Maybe other people are getting theirs at different times? Or maybe they're getting different versions.'
"So you just manifested fire powers out of nowhere?" he asked.
"I guess so." She looked confused and scared, her earlier anger completely gone. "This is all so fucked up. First those monsters show up, then the school gets destroyed, and now I'm shooting fire like some kind of superhero. None of this makes any sense."
"Welcome to the new world," he said with a grin. "Where nothing makes sense and everything wants to kill you."
"And you're enjoying this," she said. It wasn't a question.
"Hell yes, I am." His grin got wider. "For the first time in my life, I'm not the weakest person in the room. I can actually fight back instead of just taking whatever shit people throw at me."
"So your solution is to become a monster yourself?"
"My solution is to survive and have some fun while I'm doing it." He gestured at the ash pile. "Besides, you just killed something, too. How did that feel?"
She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. He could see her thinking about it, really thinking.
"It felt good," she admitted, her voice quiet. "It felt really good to not be helpless."
"There you go." He nodded, satisfied. "Now you're starting to get it."
"But that doesn't mean I have to be an asshole about it," she shot back. "I'm not going to leave people to die just because I have powers now."
"Your choice." He started walking back down the hallway, away from the dead end. "But don't expect everyone else to be as noble as you are. This world is going to chew up people like you and spit them out."
"Where are you going?" she called after him.
"Back to hunting." He didn't bother looking back. "Try not to burn the school down while you're playing with your new toy."
"Hey, wait for me, you jerk!"
He could hear her running to catch up, but he didn't slow down. Having another powered person around might be useful, sure. But he wasn't about to start being nice just because she could shoot fire. She would have to prove herself first.
And based on what he had just seen, that might actually be pretty interesting to watch.