4.2
Jelani stood silently on the dimly lit sidewalk.
The sound of footsteps coming from the alley to his left was the only thing he could hear.
Everything else was still.
He instinctively stepped away from the opening. It was near.
Should he engage it? Should he remain hidden?
Jelani had no answers, so he decided to let the moment decide.
He would simply do what he felt was right.
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The footsteps weren't heavy, but their sound made Jelani's hair stand on end.
It was as if every soundwave produced by those rubber soles scraping against the concrete was packed with malicious intent.
The steps seemed to scream, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU."
Jelani took another step back. He was deciding based on instinct, and his instincts told him to get the hell away.
But he wasn't going to run. He needed to stay within striking distance.
After all, there would have been no point in coming if he didn't do something to stop the perpetrators.
It emerged.
The beast… or person… or entity.
Whatever it was, it appeared on the street, turning away from Jelani without a glance in his direction.
Jelani swallowed, clenching his steel knuckles so tightly it was a wonder they didn't crumple under the force.
Staying tight to the row of buildings on his left, he tailed the intruder.
It was dressed in full black tactical gear, apart from the orange pumpkin mask over its head.
But Jelani's eyes were on its weapon–a handheld machine gun, whose ammunition belt fed straight into a bag strapped to its back.
Jelani adjusted his course even closer to the buildings at his side–if that thing so much as turned around, he needed an escape route he could access within a millisecond.
But it didn't turn. Not only that–it didn't even glance to either side.
It walked perfectly straight, marching onward as if it was a soldier surrounded by an invisible army.
The few passerby stole glances at the pumpkin head, perhaps feeling their hearts skip a beat before reminding themselves that it was Halloween night. There was no need for concern–if anything, it was exciting to see such a realistic costume.
It turned onto a new street, and Jelani followed cautiously behind.
Where are we going?
He glanced around, trying to orient himself in the city.
His brow furrowed. It must be going for the government buildings.
Four minutes later, Jelani's suspicion proved to be correct.
A clean-cut, gray brick building lay straight ahead, and the pumpkin head walked forward with the same determination it had had from the beginning.
It was the same building that Jelani and Echo had infiltrated weeks earlier–the building in which Hoodsdale's entire weapon stock was housed.
Jelani shook his head. There's no way it's going for the weapons. Why would it want them?
He clenched his jaw, wondering what this thing's end objective could possibly be.
They approached the building's entrance, which, as per usual, was manned by two soldiers in full camo attire.
The tall men were chatting jovially with each other, wishing they could be out enjoying Halloween instead of standing at some building's doorway for no good reason.
Hey, at least they were getting paid extra.
But what they didn't realize was that no amount of pay could have made their shift worth it. Life is priceless, after all.
The men didn't notice the stranger's approach, and the pumpkin head strode forward without showing a hint of slowing down.
"Oh–hey!" one finally called out.
The costumed figure was no more than ten feet in front of them, and it paid the man's warning no attention.
"Hey! Stop!"
The men barricaded the entrance, holding their rifles up imposingly.
"Stop right there! This building's off limits!"
But the pumpkin didn't stop.
It was five feet away. Three feet.
The men hesitated. What were they supposed to do at a time like this? No one had ever attempted to disregard their threats before.
But they were trained soldiers, and they both came to their senses, lunging at the creep in front of them in unison.
Jelani blinked at the trill of shots, and when his eyes reopened he squinted, wondering how the two soldiers had ended up on the ground.
Did it…
The killer disappeared into the building.
Jelani's eyes widened and he sprinted forward to the doorway, sparing a pitiful glance at the two men bleeding out beneath him before wrenching the door open and leaping inside.
He hadn't recognized the soldiers, and he put the image of their pain-stricken faces out of his mind, urging himself to never think of them again.
His focus had one priority: the pumpkin head.
But the hall was empty, and the intruder was already on the third floor.
Jelani whipped his head from left to right. No one was there, so he dashed down the hall, but turning the corner yielded nothing.
He froze.
Where is it?
He whipped around again, half-expecting to see the machine gun's barrel at his eye level.
But he was alone. The halls were clean and quiet, and you would never guess that two men were lying dead outside.
Ah…
Jelani closed his eyes, visualizing the world inside of his mind. He'd been in so much of a rush that he'd forgotten everything he was capable of, and he even smiled pleasantly when he detected the group of souls residing on the building's third floor.
He didn't waste time. Within seconds, he'd flown down the hall and up the stairs, closing his eyes again as he strained to pinpoint the enemy's location.
Dashing forward, he rounded another corner and leapt down another hall, finally coming to a halt outside a door that was all too familiar.
The door whose name plaque read, "Myles Johnson - Mayor."
That was when he realized how odd it was–there wasn't just one source of life inside that room. There were many.
The sounds of muffled voices barely penetrated the thick wooden door, and Jelani crept forward, pressing his ear against the cool surface.
"Please sit down. Listen to what I say. I will not harm you… if you comply."
The voice was high-pitched and robotic. It wasn't human.
Jelani could hear a man breathing heavily on the other side of the door. Chairs scraped across the ground, and none of the people inside spoke a word.
"Are you aware of Bone Creek, the tenth city?"
There were several involuntary gasps. Jelani could feel their fear seeping out through the crack beneath the door.
"I belong to them," the robotic voice continued. "Our leader is Skye Stane. You will entrust this city to us, and we will harm none of you."
It was Jelani's turn to gasp.
He staggered backwards, and when he felt a presence approaching the door, he turned and bolted, never looking back.
Fleeing down the stairs and out the building, he pressed on across the dirt field that lay beyond.
The night was so dark that he couldn't see anything, but he knew where he was going.
His destination was a little shack next to the military's barracks–Hoodsdale's radio station.