Chapter Forty-Four: A Bridge Too Dead

Kaya hadn’t been lying. The trek to the bridge hadn’t been a fun one. Still somehow it had seemed more forgiving than the average stroll through the Necropolis.

“I don’t like this,” Alice muttered as they approached the bridge they’d been told about. “It seems too easy.”

“Maybe we’re finally putting a dent in their forces,” Kay-Em suggested.

Alice gave the talking head a skeptical look. It was even harder to take Kay-Em seriously now that she was strapped to Fuuka’s back with a series of ropes. “You’re the one with a super-computer in your head,” she shot back. “You run the odds on that? Given everything we’ve seen so far?”

Kay-Em had an answer, but she didn’t give it. That alone was enough to leave Alice on edge.

The bridge was massive. Suspension-style with six-lanes. Aside from a few listless zombies wandering around, it looked clear. There wasn’t even much in the way of stalled traffic, a clear sign of how fast the Necropolis had fallen. There’d not been time for a panicked retreat from the city before everyone died.

“Everyone stay sharp,” Alice called to the others. “If this really is a way out of the city, I seriously doubt it’s not being guarded by something.” She glanced down to the water beneath the bridge, the memories of the Doom Whale still far too fresh. “Fuuka, you sense anything?”

The woman closed her eyes, focused for a few moments, before shaking her head. “None of those creatures,” she replied, knowing what Alice was worried about. “Just some zombies. But…”

“What?” Alice pressed.

Fuuka’s face scrunched up. “It’s weird.” She looked down the bridge. “It feels… fuzzy.”

“Good fuzzy or bad fuzzy?”

Fuuka shrugged. “Just fuzzy.”

Alice sighed. “Like I said, keep an eye out,” she repeated as they made their way onto the bridge. There weren’t enough zombies to prove much of a threat. A fair number of them were still trapped in their cars, undead brains too dull to figure out how to get the doors open. The group left them there. Even with Homura’s shield, it wasn’t worth the ammo. After making it nearly two-thirds of the way across the bridge without encountering anything more threatening than a startling encounter with a zombie surging through an open car window, it started to feel like they might actually get to see what life outside the city looked like.

Then the jack-knifed semi-truck let out an annoyed growl. The squad came to a halt and Alice motioned for everyone to fan out. Fuuka stayed back. The trailer shuddered violently. Mental images of a mass of zombies exploding from the thing proved far too optimistic as whatever was within the trailer stretched out and ripped through the constricting living space. Homura ducked to avoid a flying chunk of trailer, coming up ready with an RPG. Before she could fire off a shot, the hulking creature kicked up its head and smashed the semi-truck across the bridge. The ground shuddered beneath the squad, nearly toppling them. By the time they recovered, they had a very clear view of the thing blocking their path so effectively.

The Helliphant – there really was no better way to describe the thing – was covered in thick, sickly grey hide. Four massive feet held its significant weight easily as it shifted to face the four women – plus one head – that dared to disturb its slumber. It lifted its head up, letting out another bellow from its leech-like mouth. Glistening lines of saliva splattered from the smacking sucker. Four tusks framed the mouth, two on either side. As the stunned group watched, the tusks pushed further from the things body, becoming the deadly tips of four squirming tentacles. The feathery frills running along the base of the creature’s head fluttered before flaring out in what was most likely a natural signal of impending attack. There was no sign that the thing had any eyes, but it didn’t seem to need any as it charged towards the group.

Looks like it was the bad fuzzy, Alice thought as she yelled for Fuuka to retreat further back down the bridge. She ducked under a swiping tusk-tendril and replied with a burst of automatic fire that might as well have been spit balls for all the damage it caused. Homura fired off her RPG. The explosion shifted the Helliphant, leaving behind a blackened scorch along its side, but seemed only mildly more effective than the bullets. The two pressed their attack, staying moving to avoid the creature’s tusks. Its lack of eyes seemed to provide a benefit. As the pair split up, trying to divide the creature’s attention, it seemed to have no trouble focusing on both of them simultaneously.

“Really wish I had a body right about now,” Kay-Em grumbled as Fuuka hurried back down the bridge. Spotting a car without an undead occupant, Fuuka ducked down behind the hood. The android head wasn’t the only one lamenting her lack of combat prowess. Fuuka’s face constricted into concerned fear as she watched Alice, Homura, and Izumi face off against the dreaded Helliphant. Why couldn’t I sense it? I’ve got one damn gift and it’s not even working right, she thought. Now that the creature had emerged from the cocoon of its trailer, she could sense it loud and clear. Lot of good that does us now, she thought.

Homura drew a shotgun with shredder rounds from her shield and tossed it to Alice before pulling a bandolier of grenades for herself. They pushed their attack, staying out of each other’s line of fire. The shredder rounds managed to carve some gouges into the Helliphant’s hide, but not deep enough to draw blood. Homura discovered an entirely different problem with the grenades. The Helliphant was fast. Too fast for a creature its size. It had no trouble side-stepping the grenades, taking only the most minimal of blasts from them. She kept pulling pins and throwing, trying to adjust for the creature’s movements. Her eyes widened with shocked horror as she watched one of the grenades smacked aside by a slashing tendril, knocking the explosive towards Alice.

Izumi spotted the potential disaster even before Alice. She slapped her hands together, a crackle of blue electricity flashing between them. The energy coursed up her arms and across her shoulders as she crouched and planted her hands against the asphalt. Focusing her alchemical energies into the road, she conjured a thick wall in front of Alice, shielding her as the grenade blew. The woman jumped back, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a wall in front of her. She glanced towards Izumi and gave her a nod. “Thanks!” she called over. “What else can you do?”

Izumi smirked and adjusted her focus, opening up the mother of all potholes beneath one of the Helliphant’s rear legs. The creature let out a surprised groan as its weight shifted unsteadily, giving Homura the chance to finally roll a grenade right under it. The explosion knocked the creature onto its side, but didn’t seem to do much else. It pushed back onto its feet fast enough to avoid another explosion, whipping one of its tusk tendrils towards Homura. Izumi forced a jutting length of road up, knocking the creature’s tusk to the side.

Fuuka watched as the three women worked together to wear the Helliphant down. Although there wasn’t much in the way of visual damage, she could sense that the combined assault was working. She just hoped they could keep it up long enough to kill the thing.

“Um, Fuuka?” Kay-Em called, but the woman could already sense it. The same fuzziness she’d felt as they’d started across the bridge. Only now it was coming from behind them. She turned slowly, feeling a chill of fear creeping through her as she watched a second Helliphant charging down the road towards them.

“Guys!” she called to the others. “This thing’s got a friend!”

Alice glanced down the bridge and muttered a curse as she spotted the second Helliphant. “This goddamn city needs to cut us some fucking slack,” she growled. She made a dash back towards Fuuka, already able to see she wouldn’t be able to make it back to the young woman in time. She heard the swoosh of air rushing towards her and threw herself low to avoid the swipe of one of the tusk-tendrils. She’d barely gotten back to her feet before a second one slashed in low, knocking her legs out from under her. Rolling onto her back, she watched the tusk whip around and stab towards her. She fired off shredder rounds into the fleshier bit of the tendril, but even the fleshy bit was too thick to be effectively cut through. She tossed her shotgun aside and rolled to avoid impalement, sliding under a nearby car. The tusk ripped free from the road and twisted to take aim at her again. “Fuck,” she groaned as she stared at the tip of the bony spear surging towards her. Her sight of the instrument of her death vanished as Izumi created another wall of asphalt to protect her.

Breathing a sigh of relief as she heard the tusk thunk into the road-wall, Alice turned to slide out the other hand of the car only to find the vehicle pressed close against the barrier alongside the bridge. She tilted her head back, seeing the back of the car wasn’t obstructed by anything and started shimmying her way towards it. She’d nearly made it before the Helliphant started beating its tusk against the top of the vehicle. The tires blew on one side, forcing the car to tilt to the side. Alice let out a scream as a chunk of metal pressed down into her shoulder, pinning her there.

Izumi was so focused on keeping Alice alive that she didn’t notice the Helliphant taking an unhealthy interest in her. She was working to wedge the car off of Alice. Before she could, one of the tusk-tendrils lashed out at her. She managed to avoid having her face skewered by the thing, but still took a nasty hit to the head. She spun half-around, dazed and bleeding from her temple. Izumi dropped to the road, not unconscious, but close to it. Blinking the blood from her eye, she clenched her jaw and focused her energy, opening up one last pit beneath the Helliphant’s front legs that shifted its weight and put it off-balance.

With Alice and Izumi out of commission and Fuuka in danger, Homura knew she needed to deal with the first Helliphant fast. Pulling the pins on the remaining grenades, she tossed the bandolier into the pit Izumi had created before pulling free her RPG. The grenades blew, deepening the pit and sending the Helliphant tipping forward further. Homura fired off a shot from the RPG and blew a hole through the bridge, opening it up wide enough to send the mammoth-sized creature falling. The support platforms beneath the bridge battered the Helliphant’s thick hide, managing to finally cause some serious damage to the thing before sending it flipping end over end into the water below. It floated to the surface, either dead or unconscious. Either way, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Fuuka panted rapidly as the second Helliphant charged towards her. It was nearly on top of her. Her hands fumbled for the gun-like device in her pocket. She spun it around and mashed the barrel against the center of her forehead. “Persona!” she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut as she pulled the trigger on the device. There was a flash as a spectral figure emerged from her body, rising up over her as it formed into the image of a woman with bandages covering her eyes and throat. A giant glass eye sprouted from the lower half of the woman’s body, circling around Fuuka and Kay-Em, trapping them within and saving them from the Helliphant’s first devastating blow.

The Helliphant seemed confused by the sudden obstruction keeping it from the soft, squishy victim within the glass eye. It lifted up onto its hind legs and slammed its trunk-like fore legs into the glass, causing the sphere to shudder but not crack. Fuuka knew her Persona wouldn’t hold out forever, but she hoped it would last long enough for the others to figure out a way to deal with the second behemoth.

Homura rushed to Izumi. She helped the woman up and pushed her shield into her hands. “This is broken,” she said, urgency tinging her words as she glanced towards Fuuka. “Can you fix it?”

Izumi wiped the blood from her face and took the shield. She looked it over, turning it around in her hands. She’d not seen anything quite like it before, but after a quick examination she felt confident she could reconstruct it back to a fully working state with the proper application of some transmutation. She rubbed her hands together, fighting off the pounding in her head and the fatigue to conjure forth another dose of alchemical energy. Clutching the damaged shield in her hands, she forced the energy into it, breaking it down and reassembling it. The moment she started, Homura jerked away, face constricting with agony as she dropped to her knees.

Izumi nearly stopped, but Homura reached out to grab her and shook her head. “Keep… going…” she groaned through clenched teeth, tears running down her face. Izumi did as she was asked, trying to complete the task as quickly as possible for Homura’s sake. The young woman’s screams rang in her ears as the shield shifted and reformed within her hands. The screams drifted away as she finished. She slumped, panting heavily and more than a little exhausted.

Handing the shield back to Homura, Izumi gave her an uncertain look. “That… should do it,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Homura slid the shield back onto her arm, already feeling the restored abilities. Izumi’s fix had done the trick. Pushing aside the residual pain of having the very essence of her soul pulled from her to assist in the repair, Homura turned to the second Helliphant with a look of grim determination. “I’m great,” she growled.

Izumi gasped as Homura vanished.

The glass eye shattered, Fuuka’s Persona vanishing as it did. She’d pulled Kay-Em’s head off her back and clutched it to her chest. As the Helliphant reared up again, this time ready to bring its massive, flat feet down onto her body and crush her into pulp, Fuuka shoved Kay-Em under the car she was in front of, hoping it would keep the android safe. She curled into a ball, waiting for painful death. The sudden sense of fast movement consumed her, making her want to vomit. Opening her eyes, she looked to see she was no longer about to be crushed by the creature. Instead, she’d been moved well out of range of its attacks. Her brow furrowed with confusion that only grew stronger as suddenly – with another rush of something – she found Kay-Em’s head in her hands.

The android looked up at her, just as confused as Fuuka. “What a rush,” she muttered.

Fuuka, Kay-Em, and Izumi weren’t the only ones left confused. The Helliphant let out a frustrated bellow, smacking the car off the bridge as it twisted and turned in search of its prey. Before it could get a fix on any of the others, Homura popped back into sight, a blinking landmine in one hand. “Hey, over here!” she yelled to the beast. It turned and charged towards her, closing the distance with shocking speed. But as fast as it was, it wasn’t fast enough to catch Homura. The young woman vanished again, leaving behind the landmine. The Helliphant’s large foot came down on the device, triggering it and sending it stumbling back.

The bait and switch game continued as Homura lured the Helliphant back and forth across the bridge, careful to stay away from where the others were. The Helliphant was as persistent as it was durable. It took some time for the repeated explosions to rip deep enough into its hide to start causing serious damage. Once they had, Homura set up one final trap for the creature. A cacophony of explosions shook the bridge as the Helliphant’s thick legs were blown away. The heavy bulk of the thing dropped to the bridge, but not before Homura lined the asphalt with an almost comical number of landmines. The force of the combined explosions proved more than enough to rip open the Helliphant’s underside and fling its steaming guts across the bridge. The smoking husk of the creature rolled onto its side, quite dead.

In the wake of the battle, Izumi finally pushed the car off of Alice. She was dirty and sore, but otherwise unharmed. Rubbing at her bruised shoulder, she looked at the second Helliphant’s carcass with confusion. “What’d I miss?” She jumped as Homura popped back into sight just beside her. “Fuck!”

Homura held up her shield. “Izumi fixed it,” she explained.

“So…” Alice replied, still uncertain if she believed the claims Homura had made about the device, despite everything she’d seen.

“I can stop time,” Homura confirmed. “There are limits to it, though.”

“No such thing as a free lunch,” Kay-Em quipped.

Alice decided not to question it. In the grand scheme of everything they’d been through, it didn’t seem like that much of a stretch. And at least this time, the reality breaking bullshit is on our side, she thought. She looked to Fuuka. “Any more of those things?”

Fuuka shook her head. “Not that I can sense. And I can sense them properly now. I don’t know why I couldn’t before.”

“It’s not your fault,” Alice assured her. “Things don’t work right here. We’ve seen that enough times before. Let’s just see where this bridge leads.”

The bridge led out of the mayhem, out of the death, beyond the reach of the Omni. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as simply walking out onto the road beyond. The squad discovered as much as they were met with an invisible but quite solid barrier. They felt along the thing, trying to find a seam or an opening. When that didn’t work, they backed up and let Homura launch some heavy ordinance into it. It did no good. Neither did Izumi’s attempt to use her alchemical powers.

“If only we had a multi-pass,” Kay-Em muttered.

There was a thick silence in the wake of the android’s joke. Homura reached over and grabbed the head from Fuuka, shoving Kay-Em into her shield. She gave the shield a few hard shakes, resulting in a muffled bit of clattering and pained yells before drawing the head back out. Kay-Em’s eyes rolled about in a daze before refocusing.

“Sorry,” she said finally. “Bad joke.”

Alice sighed. “Made it to the bridge, now we just have to figure out someway to get this barrier down,” she said, pulling her radio out. “It might only be half-good news, but hopefully it’ll boost everyone’s spirits back at the bunker.” She flicked the device on, ready to report in, only to find Satsuki Kiryuin’s voice attempting to get her attention.

“Scout Party Alpha,” Satsuki called. “This is an emergency broadcast. If you’re still out there, please respond.”

Alice hit the transmit button on her radio. “This is Scout Party Alpha. What’s going on?”

“The Bunker is under heavy assault by undead forces,” Satsuki responded. “We’ve suffered numerous casualties. Front hatch is in danger of being compromised.”

“Shit,” Alice hissed before responding. “Look, we may have found a way out of the city. There’s a bridge, north-west of the Bunker. It’s a clear shot out, but there’s a barrier. Might take some time to get it down. We can divert and make our way back to help.”

“Negative,” Satsuki shot back. “Your orders are to find shelter. The likelihood of the Bunker surviving this assault is not looking good. Extreme measures may need to be taken.”

“But we can – “ Alice tried.

“No!” Satsuki interrupted firmly. “Let us worry about the Bunker. You worry about keeping your unit safe. Hunker down. If you can get out, get out. Once this horde is finished with us, it’ll be free to disperse throughout the city. You’ll need to be prepared for it.” There was the sound of other voices in the background. They sounded scared, panicking. “Kiryuin, signing off.” There was a click and the radio went dead.

It didn’t sound good, but the notion of abandoning all of the survivors left in the Bunker felt even worse. “Who’s up for disobeying an order?” Alice asked.

The others looked tired and more than a little done with risking their lives, but none of them had any words of dissent. On the contrary, Homura had a few in her favor. “Going back may be the only way to leave,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Izumi asked.

“It’s like a Witch’s Labyrinth,” she said.

“A what?” Fuuka titled her head, confused.

“A theory. Maybe a way this nightmare puzzlebox of a city works,” she explained. “Somewhere out there, something has to be controlling this barrier, keeping it up. If we can find that creature and kill it, the barrier will drop.”

Alice nodded, understanding what she was getting at. “And if whatever’s doing this is pissed off enough to throw enough forces at the Bunker to destroy it, then there’s a good chance the thing in charge is there, too.”

Homura nodded. “Exactly.”

“I don’t need any more convincing,” Alice decided. “That time-stopping trick, can you use that with all of us?”

Homura looked over the group. “A party this size? Yes. But I couldn’t use it if there were too many people. I can’t use it to save everyone in the Bunker.”

“That’s fine,” Alice assured her. “We can do that as a team. But we’re going to have to get back there fast. Can your ability do that?”

“I think so,” she said.

“Alright,” Alice said, pumping a fresh shell into her shotgun and turning to look back down the devastated bridge. “Let’s go kill us a witch.”