Chapter 6: Stay informed. Watch the news. Stay alive.

Shadows were starting to lengthen. It was cold. James pulled the caramel-furred coat tighter about himself and tucked his chin into his neck. Kicked at a berm of filthy ice that lined the edge of the pavement. Looked around.

The city was changing fast. And in only twenty-four hours. Mixed messages were everywhere. Lines around the block at gas stations across from tiny public playgrounds where kids still shrieked and played. A body lying in the gutter, torn all to shit, a handful of old men playing dominos with stoic fixation outside a Latin market. Sirens, sirens blaring all the time. The sound of weeping and wailing coming from open windows. Gun shots ringing out every few minutes. A low rider cruising by, the kid at the wheel draping his arm down the outside of his door, a chrome revolver glittering for all to see.

“Hey, hold up, what the fuck is that?” asked Serenity, grabbing his arm.

James looked away from a huge wad of bloody bandages that had been half-stuffed into an overflowing trashcan. They’d rounded a corner, were only a few blocks from the Dick’s, and in the sky floated a huge… glowing symbol?

“That like the batman beacon, or whatever?” asked Serenity. “That us?”

“That ain’t us,” said James. He didn’t know how he knew, but the very alienness of the symbol made it clear. It spun slowly, probably the size of a car, and looked to be made of black iron wreathed in purple flames that never went out, easily a good five hundred feet up.

“I don’t know,” he said at last. “Some kind of marker? Part of the system that’s calling up these gremlins?”

“Bad juju,” said Serenity, and crossed herself.

“Ain’t that the truth.”

They hurried on, reached the block with the sporting goods store, stopped.

“Well fuck,” said James.

The line out the door was worse than the gas station. It went all the way down the block and out of sight around the corner.

Serenity’s expression hardened. “Guess we weren’t the only folks wanting ammo.”

“Or soccer balls. You said your ex owned a gun range. You think he might sell you ammo?”

“Macaroni Mike?” Serenity stared at James as if hurt by his suggestion. “You want me to call him?”

James grinned. “You were with a guy called Macaroni Mike?”

“Yeah, his dick was weird and long and floppy like over boiled fettucine.”

James raised both hands. “Way too much information. And just when I was starting to think highly of you.”

“Hey, free nights at the gun range.” Serenity hitched her purse higher up her shoulder in mock-annoyance. “Shooting a hundred rounds from a Colt Anaconda felt like doing coke. More than made up for twirling his dick around a fork later on.”

“I don’t even know what that means, and I don’t wanna know. Call him. We need more ammo.”

Serenity huffed but dug out her phone. Dialed. James hunched his shoulders against the cold and blew out plumes of fog. The sky was gray and low. He scanned the rooftops. Movement here and there, like spotting roaches in a gloomy space, barely visible. Each time he focused on a window or cornice or chimney he’d catch a glimpse of a gremlin, then gone.

“Heya Mikey, how you doing? Yeah, it’s me, Clarice. No, I’m fine, never better. You?”

How many gremlins were out there? They didn’t disappear after killing their mark. Which meant the thousands of fatalities had left just as many Nemesis 1’s on the streets. How many people had died already?

As Serenity - or Clarice - continued chatting with her ex, James wandered over to a closed, old-school electronics store and peered in through the display window at where the TV’s were playing different channels. Most showed fancy swirls and loops with advanced graphics, but a few were tuned to the news. A hand drawn sign had been posted to the glass:

Stay informed. Watch the news. Stay alive.

Guess the owner of the store was doing his civic duty. Whoever it was had left the volume on max. James could vaguely make it out if he got real close to the plate glass windows.

The Chiron on one in particular gave him the chills: SECOND WAVE IN EFFECT

“…the Mayor’s office has released a statement confirming that the ‘second wave’ is underway, and seems to be targeting an order of magnitude more people. Remember, if you do not accept the request to acknowledge, you will not trigger your Nemesis 1 attacker.”

Another screen.

“…the President confirmed earlier in his speech that he is calling up the entirety of the National Guard and deploying them to every major city, along with bolstering key elements of infrastructure with personnel from the Army Engineer Corps and other specialized units. He has affirmed that there is no evidence that this is an attack on the part of another state, and that we must remain united and strong in the face of this bewildering horror…”

The scudding sound of a helicopter filled the air. James stepped back and looked up. A news helicopter was circling the burning rune, cameras pointed at its purple flames.

“You’re a sweet heart,” said Serenity. “We’ll be right over, long as the G train’s running. Thanks, hon.” She hung up. “Done deal, but that bastard’s selling them at a marked up price. Says his phone’s been ringing off the hook with people looking to buy.”

“Let’s get going then.” James tore his eyes away from the copter. “Second wave’s started. That means a hell of a lot more gremlins on the street.”

“Demons,” said Serenity. “Shit. It’ll take us hours to get to Mikey’s by train. Fuck the G. Let’s catch a bus.”

They hustled away. James walked with his skillet propped over his shoulder. They reached the bus stop and found fifty people already crowded around the shelter.

“Fuck.” Serenity scowled at everyone who just stared impassively back at her. “It’ll cost us like thirty bucks to get there by Uber. Should we?”

James scritched at his cheek. Thirty bucks was like fifty rounds. Was it worth saving the money for more ammo, or stupid to play it tight when they might need the bullets sooner than later?

“Let’s try one more bus stop further up the line,” he said. “Maybe this one’s crowded because of the Dick’s.”

“All right,” said Serenity. “We can always call Uber if you’re wrong.”

They began heading north. More gun shots rang out. Somewhere close by glass shattered. Sirens. A fire truck rushed through the intersection up ahead, a meteor of flashing lights barreling through traffic.

Yet most of the shops were still open. James stared into a barber shop where a guy was receiving a trim, expression placid. A Korean restaurant was packed, locals not eating but shouting at each other, a great argument roiling what looked like a local community. Lines were formed outside the door of liquor stores and pharmacies.

The next stop was crowded but not overly so. They crammed onto the bus. Nobody gave his caramel coat a second glance. For twenty minutes they swayed with the old bus as it worked its way north into Queens, and eventually descended to hike the remaining fifteen blocks over to the gun range.

This part of Queens was even more deserted than where they’d been in Brooklyn. Warehouses, old brick industrial buildings, the occasional boutique coffee shop at the forefront of the gentrification edge.

The shadows were starting to pool together. Dusk was only an hour or so away. In the sky, more of those purple burning iron glyphs hung. James had seen a dozen by now, scattered over the city, all of them identical.

The shooting range’s isolation meant there was only a small line out front. Mike had a couple of assistants taking orders at the front door, payments in cash, nobody allowed inside. Serenity tried yelling out to Mike to cut the line, but a couple of angry shouts from twitchy looking dudes in camo got James to haul her to the back.

It only took ten minutes to get to the front, anyways.

“What do you need?” asked a rawboned guy in a skullcap.

“Tell Mikey Clarice is here. He said I’d get the regular rate.”

“Yo Mikey, there’s a bitch called Clarice out front, says you promised her a special rate?”

“Fuck you,” said Serenity.

A moment later Mike appeared. He was small, round shouldered, unshaven, but James immediately recognized a dangerous air to him. Instinct told him this guy was prone to violence, capable of just going off.

“Clarice, baby, you made it. Who’s the guy?”

“This is James. We’re fighting this out together, but not like, together, you know?” Serenity’s whole tone had changed. “Anyways, you got that ammo? Glock 17.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Mikey stared hard at James, who met his glare with blank assurance. “Sure. Forty bucks a case.”

“Forty?” Serenity’s anger was obvious, but Mikey cut her off.

“Forty. You and your guy pal here enjoy, yeah?” And he disappeared back into the range.

“Fucker. Two cases.”

The assistant brought two large boxes up in a gray plastic bag, took the eighty bucks, then looked to the next customer.

Serenity muttered as they walked away. “Fucking idiot. I should have had you wait around the corner. We could of scored another box.”

“What’s done is done.” James’s plan to ask for an extra-cheap gun had died on the spot. “Now let’s just get back to the bus. I don’t like the look of this neighborhood.”

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“Wait a minute.” She moved to a shuttered window ledge and pulled three empty magazines from her purse, then carefully set about loading them with fresh ammo. “These babies won’t do me any good in the box.”

James hefted his iron skillet and watched the street. The lights came on, orange light competing with the dusk. No traffic. This was some kind of industrial sector. Which was good, cause that meant less people would have called Nemesis 1 around here. But it still made him feel unnerved.

They hustled back. Got to the more residential, mix-purpose area, when they saw their first gremlin hunched in a window, watching them with burning red eyes.

“Little shit,” said Serenity. “Think I should pop him?”

“Only if he comes for us.” James hefted his skillet. “Need to conserve the bullets, right?”

The gremlin hopped down onto the street, lithe and rangy, and hissed at them.

Serenity raised her gun with her stiff-armed stance and squeezed off a shot.

The bullet caught the gremlin between the eyes. It backflipped and lay still.

“Ha! Get out of New York City, you fuck!” Serenity grinned. “Your kind ain’t welcome here.”

Movement to the left. Serenity turned, gun still up, shot at a second gremlin that was creeping toward them from behind a dumpster. Missed the first shot, hit it square in the chest with the second.

“Center mass,” she muttered. “Getting stupid, aiming for the head.”

“Behind us,” said James, shifting around so she could turn.

A third gremlin was emerging through the shattered window of a car parked just inside an alley.

BAM. BAM.

Down it went.

“Twelve left in the mag,” Serenity said reflexively.

James glanced around nervously. Each shot had caused a deafening echo to roll down the block. Nobody came to their windows.

Nobody but gremlins, that was.

“Shit,” he breathed, turning in a slow circle. Three or four had emerged onto the edge of the roofs. Another half dozen were stepping into view out of side streets and the alley with the broken car.

Serenity scowled. Aimed, fired. Shifted her gun, fired twice. And again.

A few seconds later she ejected the magazine. Seven gremlins had collapsed to the ground.

The remaining three hesitated, then one of them threw back its head and began to chitter.

“What the fuck?” demanded Serenity. She slammed a new magazine into the gun, aimed, fired.

The chittering gremlin collapsed.

“We need to get out of here,” said James as the remaining two started their loud chittering, heads also thrown back to the sky.

“Let me take care of these first.” Serenity aimed, fired. Turned, lifted her arms, aimed, fired.

Both went down with bullets to the chest.

“You’re really good,” said James, impressed.

Serenity grinned at him. “I know.”

The chittering cry went up from a little down the block, and then was picked up by a second gremlin.

James gripped his skillet with both hands. “Shit. Run.”

They took off. The few people still on the street saw them coming and ran in the opposite direction. Doors slammed. Sirens wailed in the distance. The chittering sound was growing louder. Screams from the third floor above them, then a smashing of glass as a woman fell through, a gremlin attached to her neck, to hit the pavement with a sickening crunch.

The gremlin looked up at them both, mouth widening into a bloody leer.

Before Serenity could react, James hop stepped up and swung the skillet with all his strength like a golf club, catching the gremlin in the face and shattering its skull.

“Bus’ll take time to appear!” shouted Serenity, turning in a circle, gun extended. The street was a series of illuminated islands now, the sun having set behind the buildings. “What do we do, James?”

The chittering was growing louder. Hoarse shouts echoed from a block over, panicked, and then a spate of automatic gunfire broke out, only to abruptly cease. Horns were honking from the BQE in the far distance, traffic standing still.

“We need to get off the street.” James looked around. Shuttered shops. A restaurant? No, they’d just follow them inside. They were right at the border of the industrial area with this trendy neighborhood, warehouses and offices behind them, three story houses and cafes and bookstores ahead.

A car careened down the street, swerving wildly, two people wrestling for the wheel inside, then turned the corner and disappeared from view. A moment later there was a loud, muffled THUMP.

Action was almost always better than inaction. Gremlins were starting to swarm out of the woodwork, crawling into view.

Way too many.

“Come on!” James shouted, and ran around the corner. The car, a beat-up white Camry, had run straight into a telephone pole. A man had climbed out of the passenger side, a bloody knife in his hands.

James slowed, raised his hands.

The man’s eyes were wide, crazed, and then he looked back at the woman slumped over the wheel and took off running down the street.

“Did he - should I shoot him?” Serenity raised her gun. “I’m going to shoot his ass.”

James pushed her barrel down then ran to the driver’s door. The woman stared up at him, eyes glazed, unblinking. He reached in, felt for a pulse. She was warm, but there was nothing there.

“Fuck,” he hissed, looked around the street. More chittering was still going on. A summoning cry? A warning?

Gremlins were racing toward them now, skittering down the street in ever greater numbers.

“In the car!” He hauled open the door, yanked the woman out, then climbed in. Her body stopped him from closing the door. Keys were in the ignition. Engine was on. Serenity leaped in, and he slammed into reverse, pulled away from the telephone pole which leaned out after them, and into the street.

Gremlins began leaping onto the car.

James put the car in drive and slammed on the gas.

Slowly it began to accelerate, smoke coming out the crumpled hood.

“Go faster!” shouted Serenity as thumps started to sound from the cabin roof. A gremlin leaped onto the hood, and she raised the gun reflexively.

“Don’t shoot!” he screamed, and she just caught herself in time.

He had the pedal pushed all the way down, but the car was having trouble going above 15 mph. And the left front wheel was flat.

Gremlins were climbing all over the car now, and several on top were letting out their keening call.

Gazing desperately about as they trawled down the center of the street, James felt a pang of horror.

More and more gremlins were emerging from windows, from across rooftops, from alleyways. Merging with the seething crowd that was following them, leaping onto the car in ever greater numbers.

They were collecting every gremlin in the neighborhood, and couldn’t go any faster.

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