Grand Councilor Abrams

Alyce North, Chief of Interrogations, Master of the Inquisitors stepped into the extravagant halls of the Grand Council.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

The heel of her boots echoed in the desolate halls as she headed to hand in her report of the sorcerers.

They had managed to find less than a handful of the escapees, the rest had slipped away. They were stronger than she had realized and they were akin to rats when it came to hiding. She was theorizing different ways to capture them when she saw a handful of people.

She was halted by a group of military police who were guarding a door. The assistant to the council briefly saw her before talking into a device much like a phone. She spoke a few times before nodding her head towards the guards who let Alyce in.

As Alyce entered, she gazed into the gas masks of the MP's. They always had a strange red glow coming from the lenses where their eyes sat. If she didn't know a few of them personally, she'd think they were the result of some experiment.

She turned away and focused on the task at hand.

She passed through the doors and entered a dimly lit room. She could see five silhouettes sitting in chairs facing her.

"Speak, Master Inquisitor." One of the silhouettes commanded.

So she started her report without bothering to look at any notes.

"Collectively, the city has arrested 48 sorcerers. As of one hour ago, 28 of them escaped. Before the escape, they all separated themselves into groups of four, so the event left behind 20 sorcerers; making a grand total of 5 groups remaining in our custody."

"How exactly did the sorcerers escape your custody?" Another silhouette asked.

"There was something emitted through the air; an electromagnetic pulse. We believe it to have originated from one of the sorcerers. It disabled the collars for everyone and caused a brief disruption in our relay station. I however, also believe that had that specific sorcerer not activated the EMP, the sorcerers still would've escaped."

"And why is that?"

"They all seemed confident in their abilities. During their escape, even now, we've only managed to find a single squad of four. They were shot and killed on sight, leaving a total of 44 known sorcerers in the city. Before they went down, they killed approximately two dozen of our men."

"So what you're telling me is that they are insignificant to our numbers?" A silhouette boasted.

"Yes. A lot of our men will die, but the sorcerers will be caught eventually. I'd however like to make a formal request."

"Oh?"

"Let's leave the sorcerers to their own operation. The five groups of sorcerers in our custody made no attempt at escape. I left afterwards to give my report, but I've been told they were nothing short of completely cooperative."

"But why do you wish to leave the escaped sorcerers alone?"

"They all seem to share a common goal. Despite being in their groups, there are many groups with rivalries within, yet they still work together. They could branch out and change groups too, but aren't. What sense does that make? I suspect that they're here for a reason, and it doesn't seem that reason is destruction."

"But what if you're wrong?"

"I'm not." She said boldly.

"Oho?" A councilor chuckled under their breath.

Another leaned forward.

"Ms. North… This city is not your playground. If you are wrong, it could spell disastrous consequences for the city as a whole. I cannot in good faith, accept your proposal."

"I agree with him; Ms. North… the forefathers have kept this city alive until now. I will continue putting my faith into their plans. Any deviations could put their arrangements into disarray." Another councilor said as their wrapped their ring covered hands around each other.

A skinny councilor pushed up their glasses and sighed, "Your lack of foresight is astounding. The forefathers never intended for their plans to stretch unto infinity. Our mines are wearing thin, and food is growing scarce, and don't even get me started on the water. If we don't secure further territory, we'll die as a species."

"Is that heresy I detect? My, my, you've gotten bold in your final years. I believe it's Ms. North's job to deal with that." The councilor with the ring covered hands retorted.

"What does a dying man have to fear?" The skinny councilor replied.

"An excruciating death." The ring covered councilor quickly said.

"Humph." The skinny councilor scoffed and shook their head.

"Gentlemen- before us is a proposal. If you're done jabbing at each other with meaningless words, shall we put it to a vote?" The councilor in the middle of the five raised their voice for the first time.

He looked around at the faces he couldn't quite make out. Once they silenced their mouths, he spoke again.

"Those in favor of the proposition, say 'aye.'"

"Aye."

"Aye."

The room descended into silence.

Two to Three.

"He is right though." The same councilor in the middle who hadn't voted suddenly spoke, "The forefathers never envisioned our situation worsening. The walls are starting to destabilize, they've grown too tall. The population is slowly dying, need I explain why? Our resources are disappearing with each bullet shed. Our lands have long since grown infertile, sapped of its nutrients."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He continued with a firm voice.

"The forefathers were brilliant men in their own rights, yet our city has still been reduced to this pathetic state. We were once a grand people, have you forgotten the golden years in the history texts? Those of you who declined the proposition… I have to wonder why." The councilor spoke slowly before opening his mouth, "I vote, 'Aye.' This council accepts the proposal."

Three to Two.

Grand Councilor Abrams, the man adorned in rings sighed.

"What a shame." He stood and Alyce's eyes quickly wandered over to him.

Just as her eyes settled onto his body, an explosion rang out with him as the source. Alyce was sent flying into the wall with a cough. Her eyes stung from the sudden bright light as fire began spreading out in the room.

She forced herself up and towards the door as her eyes quickly adjusted to the newfound light. In the flames she saw Grand Councilor Abram's ripped apart body walking forward while cracking his neck.

His piercing gaze traveled past the smoke and found Alyce's eyes, even past her mask.

His exposed muscle pulled skin back over it with an uncountable number of wriggling tendrils. Alyce quickly kicked the door open and pulled her revolver from its holster. She stood in the doorway to find the hall vacant of people, she turned and shot her gun at Abrams without a hint of hesitation.

As his face was being blown apart, the tiny tendrils reconstructed it and a sly grin grew across his face.

Alyce cursed as she pulled out a speedloader and quickly reloaded her revolver. Abrams walked towards her as fire still crawled off his back. Alyce turned and ran into the hallway realizing the futility of direct attack.

He had been unaffected by the explosion that came from his body, the flames from it, and the bullets from her gun. Anymore would be a waste of ammo.

She ran down the halls and Abrams watched her as she did so. He raised his hand in a wave and with a smile, shouting at Alyce's retreating back.

"Farewell Ms. North!"

Alyce ran down the stairs and could hear gunfire through the thick walls and floors. She kept looking behind her for any signs of Abrams but always felt relieved when there were none.

'Six rounds in my gun, one speedloader left with ammo. Twelve rounds in total.' She quickly calculated in her head.

Upon getting to the floor underneath, she saw dozens of people scrambling around. Soldiers shot at civilians and vice versa. They used a mixture of handguns and bolt action rifles. Some of the civilians fought with other civilians and same with the guards, adding to the confusion.

Alyce couldn't tell friend from foe in there, so she lowered her frame and scuttled away. She had an escape in mind that wasn't too far from her location. She made it down another hall and saw someone laying on the ground.

Their lifeless eyes stared across the floor blankly. Their gas mask had been ripped off and their own puddle of crimson blood reflected their face cleanly.

Alyce pressed her body against a wall and peered beyond it. There was a window at the end of the hall and if she was remembering correctly there was a roof on the other side of it where she could escape. In the hall between her and salvation, there stood guards limping around with their guns in their arms.

Their eerie eyes glowed red behind their masks added to their creepy visage. All around the guards were poorely armed citizens of the city laying on the floor. Alyce closed her eyes at the sight and grimaced.

She raised her head and looked back at the hall. There were five guards lingering in her way. She didn't know whether they had the same regenerative properties of Abram, but that was an extreme abnormality amongst the hive. So she decided to take a chance.

Perhaps due to nervousness, she chose to check her gun's ammunition. The speedloader had fresh rounds in it and she hadn't fired any off, but she made sure the ammo was there.

Once she looked at the fresh rounds sitting neatly she almost smiled.

As she clasped the chamber shut, she exhaled a deep breath in her mask. She turned the corner to find a pair of red glowing eyes watching her. The guard's head twitched for a moment as Alyce froze.

The guard's muscles contorted and it let out a shriek. It raised its gun but Alyce shot first. The round hit the newly created undead square in the head, but it only wobbled backwards. It found its footing after momentarily flailing, but Alyce cocked the hammer and fired another round into it.

The other undead quickly turned and raised their guns. Alyce dove back behind the wall and cursed.

'Four rounds left.' She thought as she pulled the hammer back.

Research and Development had recently created a double-action revolver and she wished she had picked one up. The step of needing to pull the hammer back was something she always wished wasn't required.

The undead fired their guns slowly and cocked them. The regular undead weren't this coordinated in terms of bodily function. All that the old undead knew to do was go forth unto the living and tear into their flesh.

'They're evolving…' Alyce thought to herself. 'It's happening rapidly too. It was only a month ago when we discovered the Long Legs evolution. What happened between before that and now? What changed?'

She questioned as the undead shot their guns into the wall. Despite the horrible situation she found herself in, she couldn't help but think about it. She concluded it couldn't have been the sorcerers, they had arrived only recently.

As her mind wandered, she suddenly heard a noise.

Click!

Click! Click!

Clicking noises echoed out as the gunfire slowly settled. Her ears rang from the constant strain of shooting. She thought of what she had to do and wanted to swear.

She knew it was a bad idea, but she trusted her gut. She speedily peaked around the corner to find the undead dry firing their guns.

They had run out of ammo.

As if realizing this, their arms began stumbling around their pockets for ammo and Alyce wasn't going to let the opportunity slip through her fingers. She had four rounds left in her gun and there were four guards left.

She fired the first round and an undead fell. She wasn't going to get cocky and advance either, she planted her feet and fired another round. The second undead fell without any fanfare. She fired another causing the third undead to fall.

Then, finally, she killed the last undead soldier just as they had managed to get their ammo out from their pouch. It fell to the floor and began slightly twitching before abruptly stopping.

Alyce let out a held breath with a shudder. As adrenaline pumped through her veins she pulled out her last filled speedloader and began to reload her weapon. Her hands trembled and she nearly dropped it.

She licked her dry lips underneath her mask and took a deep breath.

Then a groaning hiss was let out nearby from the ground. Her eyes instantly were brought towards the 'dead' civilian she had seen earlier. It widely opened it's mouth without regarding the confines of anatomy. It tore open its mouth to widen the reach of its jaw.

It went against logic since it shouldn't be able to open its mouth anymore, but the undead didn't seem disturbed by it.

It clamped it's mouth onto Alyce's leg, and tried biting through her leather boot. Before it could, Alyce ripped away her leg and stomped onto the undead's head.

Without giving it the slightest chance at retaliation, she began stomping its head again and again. Eventually, the head became a vast pile of thick mush with hard bone mixed in.

Alyce lifted her boot that still had bits of flesh sticking to it and deeply frowned. She moved to a place as devoid of bodies as possible and wiped the slick blood from the soles of her shoe on a random chair. After making sure she wouldn't slip while marching to the window, her face grew determined.

She took control of her nerves and quickly finished reloading her gun.

Alyce looked back at the room. The gunfire from before had thinned out and now there were just shots happening every once and a while. The window to freedom was just beyond her reach.

Before she could make her way to it however, an announcement began blaring out.

"This is Grand Councilor Abrams. The hive has sneaked past our radar with some sort of tunneling. The haven't managed to dig under the city due to the brilliance of our forefathers, but they are attacking the wall. This is a call to all soldiers, guards, prisoners, and able bodied men, go to the walls and save this city. The threat level has been raised to H3 with the possibility of it reaching H2. May the forefathers bless you and you be washed of sin."

'We're in the heart of the city and this place is flooded with undead. That bastard's going to draw away the guard from the city!'

She cursed aloud but knew she couldn't stop Abrams.

"The sorcerers…"

She muttered softly with wide eyes. She back at the window and quickly ran to it. She popped it open and jumped down to the roof that was under it. She ran across it, ignoring the heavy rain that was falling on her shoulders.

She made it to a ladder and quickly grappled down it before disappearing in the streets.