Dani was not a violent person by nature.

  Swinging out at him was just a last ditch effort in a situation she was sure she was going to die in. It seemed either way when this guy got to you it was a painful death. So Dani did what any mostly reasonable person would do. She fought. She figured if she’d try to fight somehow, it would make enough distraction for Rachel to get out. But apparently the need for a distraction was gone entirely. As was the man. Well, the bottom half of his face and mask were gone. Drooping down under the mask was his sagging skin. The blood spilled all over the floor, staining it in crimson.

  Dani took a step back.

  She looked at the body that lay before her. She did that. She wasn’t exactly sure how but she did it. She also saved herself and Rachel. That deserved some joy.

  She stood there for a moment, as she heard a buzzing overhead the building and some slight vibration. Signalite Enforcement. Had to be. They were kind of like special ops but they were made specifically for when Signalites when haywire. Dani was worried they’d see what she did in the store.

  She went behind the counter and grabbed Rachel by the shoulder, as the dropship hovered in front of the store, and saw a hail of energy weapon fire pelt Drudge.

  As it did, the lasers cut through his skin like butter, but it wasn’t blood that came out. It was just black goo. It oozed out like pus from a festering wound. He roared back out, the sound coming from the bottom of his stomach.

  As he brought up his sledgehammer, in a moment a flash of blue landed on him, and split him in two. The body, if you could call it that opened up like a can being crushed by a weight. It spewed out, some of the gore splashing on the storefront windows. Still, even his innards weren’t blood red, they were black and white, pus and sludge. Standing from the corpse was Warden in all his glory.

  His mech suit was a technical marvel from a bygone age and banned technology. But due to his status as a Signalite, he was able to find a way around those laws. And he only used it for good.

  Warden scanned the area, his massive shield still in Drudge’s body, and his weapon that could be formed into a multitude of things was currently a massive battleaxe. The pieces from inside Drudge dripped off him.

  Troopers from the Enforcement team dropped down next to him, their gravity disbursement fields softening the drop. When they dropped they fired a couple rounds at the attackers, and they dropped quickly. Few people have ever fought Enforcement, and the ones that do usually don’t come back to survive it. There was more buzzing overhead. More dropships. It seems they were searching for the last Signalite, as Dani was sure Furnace had been there. He was able to spawn fire from anything. That had to be what she saw.

  Dani pulled Rachel up and brought the two to the door. Rachel was pale white and was barely moving on her own. “Listen, Rachel. We’re gonna go out there and put our hands up. It’ll look better than hiding with a dead Signalite.” Dani said.

  Rachel looked up at her. Her eyes were swelling up with tears. She stumbled on her words. “Shh, it’s okay.” Dani said. She grabbed her by the hands. Gently. She brought her to the door, and tried pushing it, until she heard one of the Enforcers yell out “Stop right there! Behind the door! Hands up!” Dani stopped dead in her tracks. Her hands were up before she even knew she had them up. Rachel slowly raised hers up. Her eyes were fixated on the corpses piled up on the door. Dani followed her gaze for a moment.

  It was a boy in his mothers arms. He had been crushed by the weight of his mother and the glass as she was running for cover.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Dani thought she could’ve opened the door or something. She didn’t let them in in time. The mothers arms still clung to the boy even in death. It was hard to make out details about the two.

  The door creaked open, the Enforcers pulling it open with weapons trained on them. Dani couldn’t break her gaze from the corpses.

  “Dani…” Rachel said.

  “What?” Dani responded.

  “Don’t move!” The Enforcer said.

  “That’s…” Rachel stuttered.

  Dani felt the gloved hand of an Enforcer grab and pull her arm behind her. The other one went into the room and saw the blood soaked corpse of the man she killed. “Pathogen is KIA.” He turned to the two as Rachel said something again.

  “That’s Anthony and your mom.”

  The world stopped for a moment. Dani knew it. But she didn’t want to admit it.

  Her vision blurred.

  She could’ve opened the door.

  The room tilted and buzzed and so did the itching in her brain. She felt the Enforcer nudge her outside as the world began to move again.

  She looked outside and saw Vale standing next to Warden, both of them laughing.

  As she stepped outside over the bodies she said, “What are you laughing at?” Her voice came from somewhere deep. Not deep in her stomach. But something powerful enough they both stopped in their sentences and were forced to look at her. She felt the words string them to her.

  “You think this is funny?” She asked.

  “You’re heroes. Do your fucking job.” She commanded.

  The tether broke. Vale took a defensive stance. “Dani?” He asked.

  “You know this girl?” Warden’s deep, mechanical voice came from his suit.

  “She’s a friend’s daughter.” Vale said, as he took steps towards her. “What’s wrong?”

  Dani didn’t say anything. She pointed her trembling finger at the bodies. “I could’ve helped them. I could’ve opened the door.” She said.

  Vale and Warden both saw the jawless corpse of Pathogen being carried out by an Enforcer. Warden looked down at her. “Impressive.” He said, silently.

  Vale knelt next to the bodies, and reached out, and felt Allie’s blood-soaked skin. He felt all down her, feeling for an injury. He felt her vertebrae, and they were shattered. It was the work of Drudge’s hammer. The vertebrae were so badly damaged Vale couldn’t feel them. Anthony was crushed under her, and some of the force from the hammer must’ve hit him as well. Maria was missing.

  Dani trembled and fell to her knees. She couldn’t take her eyes off of it.

  She could’ve opened the door.

  She heard echoes of the Enforcers talking to Warden behind her. They took Rachel aside for questioning soon after. Dani wouldn’t budge. Vale explained to them what had happened.

  Dani began to cry. The tears felt freeing. She let out a choked scream. And as she did the world felt it. It trembled with her cry. Just like the classroom. The world quieted and everything around her dimmed. She sat with her hands on her knees, wiping away a tear every now and then.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder. It strained to touch her.

  Her body locked, and her head craned up. She saw visions. Visions of her in other timelines. Some dying, some killing countless people. She saw herself flying. She saw her become a figurehead of the world.

  The last vision was one of her fighting and being killed by a beast from space. It had tentacles and eyes all across its body. It was formless, shifting itself every moment. Then it blinked Earth away.

  She then came back to her reality.

  Rachel was holding her. She brought her arms around Rachel and brought her in close.

  Dani broke down. She cried into Rachel. She didn’t get to say goodbye.

  The world owed her the greatest debt.