The Bridge Encounter

Racing over the bridge, his breath labored and shoes pounding against the cement, he thinks, "Shit, I hope I'm not too late." Beads of sweat roll down his temples, his heart hammers in his chest. The distant echoes of gunshots are louder now, more immediate. He's close.

He reaches the end of the bridge and halts, taking in the chaotic scene before him. A group of survivors, their faces twisted in terror and determination, are trapped on the far side, fighting off a seemingly endless horde of monsters. Their barricade, a makeshift construct of cars and debris, trembles under the onslaught.

Realizing that his enhancement ability has a limited window, he needs to act quickly. A glance at his hands reminds him that he's running on borrowed time. The glow that signifies his power is beginning to flicker, indicating its impending cooldown.

Without another thought, he dashes forward, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hey! Over here! Come and get me, you damned beasts!"

His strategy works. Many of the monsters turn their attention to him, drawn by his taunts and the rapidly fading glow of his strength. As he engages the horde, a sense of exhaustion sets in faster than he anticipated. Every movement feels like he's pushing through molasses.

But he's effective. Monster after monster falls before him. Yet, with each one he takes down, two more seem to take its place. The pain becomes more pronounced, his breaths shorter.

A creature lunges at him, but he sidesteps, using the momentum to slam it against a nearby car. Another charges, its eyes filled with bloodlust. With dwindling energy, he manages to fend it off but at the cost of a deep gash across his leg.

His vision blurs. He can feel himself faltering. "Not now," he thinks, "I can't fall now." But despite his determination, his strength is ebbing away.

Suddenly, an explosion rings out. One of the cars in the barricade has been detonated, creating a momentary reprieve. The survivors take the chance, running towards a nearby building.

His knees buckle, and darkness creeps into the edge of his vision. As he collapses, the last thing he hears is the distant sound of the survivors shouting for him, but it's all muffled, like he's underwater.

★  ★  ★

"Hngh!... Ugh..." I gasp awake, a sharp pain in my abdomen making me cringe. As my vision clears, I notice the dimly lit surroundings of a worn-down room. The cold, hard floor beneath me and the distant moans of the creatures outside remind me of the dire situation. Gingerly, I touch the bandaged wound on my stomach, the monster's parting gift. "I think I overdid it," I murmur to myself, trying to sit up. "Seriously, that was insane."

Footsteps approach, and the door creaks open. In steps Mara, her graying hair pulled back, eyes filled with a mixture of relief and concern. Behind her is Finn, his nervous gaze scanning the room, probably searching for his friend, Lydia. The air seems tense with them.

"Easy there, hero," Mara says, her voice surprisingly gentle. "You gave us quite a scare."

I try to smile, but it probably comes off as more of a grimace. "Just doing what I could."

"You did more than 'what you could'. You saved our lives," Finn adds, his voice shaky.

Before I can respond, more footsteps echo, and Jenna enters the room, her vibrant red hair now a mess, making her look even more fierce. Behind her, the college students who'd tried to help us trickle in. Lara, with her raven-black ponytail, eyes scanning the room, assessing everything. Liam, adjusting his beanie nervously. The short girl with curly red hair - they called her Rosie - stands beside a tall guy with glasses, whom I recall hearing someone call "Nate". Lastly, there's a guy with a buzz cut, muscles tensed, ready for action. They called him "Jake".

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," Jenna quips, trying to lighten the mood. The tension in the room drops a bit, a few chuckles emerging.

Lara steps forward, her gaze fixed on me. "You know, for a moment there, we thought we'd lost you. You're lucky Leo's pretty handy with first aid."

Leo, the man with the scar, nods from the doorway, his large knife glinting from the dim light coming from outside.

I try to sit up a bit more, feeling a sting from my wound. "Thanks, Leo. And everyone. I'm just glad we made it out of that mess."

Lydia steps forward, her curly hair bouncing with each step, her eyes brimming with tears. "The kids... they've been asking about you. They called you 'the glowing man'. They want to thank you."

I chuckle weakly. "Just doing what anyone would do in my place. With... glowing hands."

The warmth of their smiles surrounds me, and for a moment, the weight on my shoulders feels a little lighter. "Ah, this feels great," I muse to myself, memories of my mother's words flooding back. Always said to take care of others. Heh, while I couldn't impress those two jerks, this group... they're different. They genuinely care about each other.

Suddenly, Jenna's voice pulls me from my thoughts. She's looking out the window, her features contorted in annoyance. "Tsk, those two bastards... how dare they steal my bike!" she exclaims, clicking her tongue in disgust.

I raise an eyebrow, the mention of 'two bastards' piquing my interest. Could they be...? "Two bastards?" I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral.

Jenna turns to me, her eyes flashing with anger. "Yeah, two people, looked college-aged. Appeared out of nowhere during our standoff. But instead of helping..." She slams her fist against the wall, frustration evident in her movements. "Those bastards took my bike!"

I quickly connect the dots. "Wait, I think I might've come across them. But they didn't have a bike. The girl had an unusual mix of hair colors, right?"

Jenna nods slowly, her anger simmering. "Yeah, that's them. My bike didn't have much gas left, so they probably abandoned it on the other side of the bridge. The direction you came from." She sinks to the floor, looking defeated. "Those fucking assholes! If I ever see them again... I'll kill them."

While her anger is justified, the thought of taking lives over a stolen bike feels excessive. "Well, I don't know about killing, but they definitely deserve a lesson. How could they do something like that? Seriously, what a bunch of dicks."

Trying to change the subject and ease the tension, I reach out my hand to introduce myself properly. "Sorry, I should've said this earlier. My name's Draken."

Lara's eyes light up, a smile breaking through her previously serious demeanor. "You have an ability, right? That's awesome! It'll make our fights so much easier."

I can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "Well, yeah, I do have a pretty cool ability, but it doesn't make me invincible." I pause, taking a deep breath. "There are a lot of monsters out there that I wouldn't stand a chance against."

Groaning, I push myself to a shaky standing position. "We shouldn't stay in one place. We need to move over the bridge before it gets dark."

Mara, with a look of concern, interjects, "Over the bridge? Why? Shouldn't we head southeast to the evacuation center?"

Rubbing my forehead, memories of the horror I witnessed flood back. "I see the government still chose to let people die. Tsk, why would the queen do that?" I take a deep breath. "All of the four evacuation centers that were packed with people... they're gone."

Liam's eyes widen in shock and anger. "What the hell do you mean 'the evacuation centers are gone'!?" He attempts to march up to me, but Jake holds him back. "The evacuation centers have an entire military base! How can they be gone!?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I take a moment to gather my thoughts. "I saw it happen. I was on my way there myself." The words come out slowly, the memories still raw. "I don't know what it was... something like a crack in the sky. A monster. It wasn't that big, but it controlled all the other monsters. It destroyed everything in less than five minutes. I jumped into the river and ended up down here in this part of the city."

A hushed silence fills the room. The weight of my words hangs heavily on everyone, their faces etched with a mixture of disbelief and horror.

Then, forcing a smile onto my face, I stand taller. "Don't be downers. We need to survive. We need to avoid the center of the city. If we head across the bridge, we can walk until we reach a secondary base set up. I managed to catch a radio signal, hearing a conversation. That base is still in operation."

★  ★

Pushing forward across the bridge, the faded remnants of day cast a subdued light, illuminating our path. I glance over at the group, our collective sense of purpose providing a counterpoint to the dread of our current situation. "Does anyone else have an ability?" I ask, hoping for an affirmative response. There's a weighty silence, punctuated only by the subtle noises of our footsteps and the distant hum of the city.

"Just my luck," I muse to myself. "People randomly get abilities, so even if someone here does have one, like me, they might not know how to activate it."

We continue to march on, the silence only adding to the heaviness in the air. But I have something that could change all that. With a small smile, I say, "There's something I need to share." Reaching into my pocket, I extract a small dark-colored crystal, holding it up for the group to see. "Not all monsters have this, but some of them have this inside their body. I ate one, and that's how I found out I had an ability. It activated it, or something like that."

Jenna comes to an abrupt stop, her face contorted in a mix of confusion and disgust. "So let me get this straight," she begins, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she gestures dramatically with her hands, "you killed a monster, and then dissected it?" Her eyes widen in disbelief, "And after all that, once you found this thing, you ate it? Are you alright in the head? You're not starving, are you?" She mumbles, more to herself than anyone else, "Who in their right mind would eat something they found inside a monster?"

Laughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of my neck, I try to defend my actions. "Ah... yeah. I mean, I've read novels and comics where stuff like this always happens. You know, main characters getting powers after doing something strange or seemingly stupid."

Jenna's eyes narrow, her gaze piercing. "Don't get me wrong, it's great that you found something like this, but this is real life, you know? We're not some damn characters in a comic."

Clearing my throat, I try to steer the conversation back to the potential benefits of the crystal. "Come on, I have a couple of these with me. You should all take one, just in case you have an ability you don't know about. At the very least, it might help."

Each of them hesitantly grabs a crystal, the dark sheen of the stone glistening eerily in the dim light. Liam, the guy with the beanie, squints at the crystal in his hand and looks up at me with raised eyebrows. "Are you sure this won't give me some monster disease? I don't want monster aids or something."

Before I can even respond, the guy with the buzz cut, Jake, shrugs. "Fuck it," he mumbles, popping the crystal into his mouth and swallowing it. All eyes are on him as he waits, tension palpable. A few long moments pass, and... nothing. No glow, no power, no change. He looks disappointed. "Uh, bummer."

One by one, the rest follow suit. Some with hesitation, some with determination, and others with curiosity. But the results are the same. Nothing. No change.

Finally, only Jenna remains. Everyone turns their eyes to her, their anticipation evident. I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, "Come on... everyone's waiting. The leader's got to be lucky, right?"

She glares at the crystal in her hand, her features a mix of uncertainty and defiance. "If I get monster aids, I'm going to kill you," she grumbles, before finally swallowing the crystal.

At first, there's silence. We all wait, holding our collective breath. And then, slowly, a faint blue aura begins to encircle her, making her stand out against the dim surroundings. My heart leaps in excitement. "Oh, she actually has one! Yes, this is great."

Everyone else mirrors my sentiment, their expressions filled with a mix of surprise, awe, and excitement.

She looks around, the soft blue glow reflecting in her eyes. "So... what do I do?" Jenna asks, sounding both bewildered and intrigued.

I rub my chin, deep in thought. "I don't know... try thinking of something or feel something. It's something you just kind of feel. I wonder what your ability is."

Her gaze narrows in concentration, but the aura simply pulses, neither intensifying nor fading. She looks up at me with a hint of frustration. "It's not like there's a manual for this, you know."

I can't help but laugh at that, the tension breaking slightly. "Welcome to the world of superpowers, I guess. We'll figure it out. For now, though, let's keep moving. Having an ability is great, but it won't do us any good if we're caught out here when night falls."