Sally sat with her arms crossed. She scowled at the ginger cat as she mulled over her words. “Rats”, she eventually decided.

  Archie continued to look up at her with his emerald eyes, waiting for a more detailed response.

  She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “So… you’re telling me there’s now an unknown and powerful entity on the Omen, and they’re eating my pancakes?”

  “Not quite.” The cat waved his tail back and forth. “According to Jackie, the entity hasn’t actually eaten any of them, but is just staring at the pancakes.”

  “They’re wasting them.” Sally gasped. “A crime worse than whatever else we were going to charge them with.”

  Edward leaned forward in an attempt to keep the conversation on-target. “If they become hostile, that could be a problem for us. I assume Chuck is doing something to maintain control?”

  “As much as he can.” Archie looked to the side as the skeletal dwarves moved around the wall. “The entity has a System unlike anything we’ve seen before - if it even has one at all.”

  The demon frowned. “How could it not?”

  “Let’s leave the big-picture problems to those with more space to think,” Sally interjected. “If Jackie is fine, then I will keep my focus planetary for now, but update us, Archie. While I have your attention… you’re going to need to point us in a direction. Where’s your magic crystal thing at, cat?”

  He tilted his head to the side. “If I knew, I would have told you. The more time we spend here, the surer I become that it is here, however.”

  The zombie pulled a face. As much as she loved a good fight, especially against the bugs who were planning on attacking Sanctuary, she was always happiest when a problem was dealt with quickly. The best part of going off-world was returning back home. Preferably with a full stomach and new power to utilize.

  She looked down as Humphrey approached them. The talk with the dwarven king had gone on longer than expected, but that was just another reason to be thankful the Death Knight had taken over.

  “The fires are dying out,” he said. “We will need to prepare for another push. Likely to be their last.”

  Sally nodded. “Then we can leave?”

  He shrugged his wide, plated shoulders. “Leaving just means having to face the hordes once more. Our temporary position only grants us a short breathing period.”

  She furrowed her brow. If the Radochs had been a little more edible, then she’d consider this a done deal. It wasn’t often that an enemy outnumbered her and her zombie pals. The dwarven fortress had been a painless way to avoid the horde that were closing in on them thanks to the woodland skirmish, but the corridor full of pulped bugs was only a small slice of the forces remaining on the world.

  If they just ran out looking for a fight, they’d end up in the exact same position. Maybe worse. Perhaps worse than the loss of her spaceship pancakes was the undeniable fact that they'd have to use their brains in deciding what was next.

  As the rest of the defenders at the wall readied to open the covered hatches and thin openings to assault the roaches, Sally opened up her Map and started planning.

  Theo stumbled forward aimlessly. Blood soaked him through, dripping to the ground as he edged toward a rock to sit on. “Perhaps a better plan is in order,” he murmured to himself.

  Not that he hadn’t been having fun. There was something about being uncontested that tickled him, and he’d fallen into the trap of finding comfort in repetition. How many times could he complete the dungeon in an hour? What timesaving tricks could he employ, using which of his abilities, to cut every corner?

  Lost within the numbers.

  Usually, Sally would bring him out of it. Or he’d just become sated with his accomplishments. There was something about rotating through this dungeon that wasn’t scratching that usual itch, however. The experience, items, and gold weren’t doing it for him. As for the blood…

  You could have too much of a good thing.

  Maybe he just needed some sleep. It wasn’t quite nighttime yet, but there was nothing to settle his sanity quite like being shut in his metal box for a few hours. The vampire’s hand dug around in his jacket pocket before bringing out the small cube. He’d used it to kill a dozen or so combatants in the dungeon—which was far from its intended use—but it remained unblemished and undamaged.

  Theo glanced around the quiet woodland. There hadn’t been any other Parties out this way, unless they had arrived while he was busy having fun in the instanced Dungeon. The quiet was unnerving, if only slightly. It wasn’t as if he was in any mortal danger. As important as his task was on this world… he could certainly afford a nap.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  With a gentle toss, he threw the cube to the ground beneath the shade of a tree. A quick hum of subtle magic range out in the quiet area before the small metal object expanded in a near instant to the full size of his coffin. It settled into the soft grass, and the side of the lid hissed slightly as it popped open an inch.

  Even better than the deserved rest was the cleaning properties of the weighty casket. All this excess gore soaking through his clothing would siphon away, granting him a much more efficient beauty sleep. Or that’s what Sally told him, at least. Back on Sanctuary it wasn’t necessary, and the zombie didn’t enjoy trying to sleep in the restrictive coffin.

  After giving the surroundings one last tired look, he pushed the lid aside to climb inside, and wondered how Sally was doing. No doubt having just as much fun as he was.

  Sally grimaced as she held up her hand to the thin firing window. While she was no stranger to terrible smells, the oppressive heat and stench of burned bugs was even a bit much for her. Turning the stone corridor into a furnace hadn’t dissuaded most of the lower-tier roaches from trying to get to the second door.

  It was a blessing they didn’t scream as they burned to death, crawling across the charred corpses of their brethren. Clearly, they held little regard for each other’s lives. It made her look like a saint in comparison.

  She fired a Mortis Bomb through the slight opening.

  Not only did the bugs not care how many had died, it looked as though they had found a way of removing the corpses from the tunnels. They were either being dissolved or consumed by something too obscured by bodies and dark smoke for her to see. Whatever it was, it didn’t help with the smell.

  The flaming skull left her hand and sank down through the tunnel, colliding with something just out of sight. A burst of purple light illuminated some of the smoke before fading away. She felt the undead lives of five created zombies bloom into being. Three were struck down almost immediately. Two lasted until she loaded a bolt into her new crossbow and held it up to her firing window.

  Her enemies were naturally armored, so could resist the claws and teeth of her raised minions easier than most. Without tasty brains, it neutered one of the main strengths of her pals. Even if she used up her strength to raise another Zombie Apocalypse, I would only slow the advance of the Radochs.

  “Any bright ideas?” Edward asked.

  “No.” The zombie wrinkled her nose. “Usually raw ambition and disregard for morals and personal safety is enough to get me through most things. This seems almost directly designed to counter me.”

  “Would they be a threat to Sanctuary if they were weak to you?”

  Although the demon had a point, she was in no mood to validate him. It wasn’t like they knew the aliens were so hardy until now. She hadn’t faced the lone roach who was kidnapping the Outsiders before, and Chuck had been the one to kill it. Maybe it would have been better to question and divulge more information from the invader, but from what Dent had said… Chuck was really mad about the whole thing.

  That didn’t mean she was about to roll over and accept the bugs had one up on her. There was just an angle she hadn’t thought about yet. A way to use her god-like powers to turn things in her favor.

  She fired a crossbow bolt down into the thick gloom below.

  Eating their hearts could be an option? At first glance, the calcified versions from the dead bodies didn’t look appealing in the slightest - and she had eaten some odd things in her years as a zombie. Plus, that wouldn’t help her raise the dead. Unless she could plant the hearts like seeds?

  Sally furrowed her brow. This was a lot more difficult than she had first envisioned. Perhaps the other Monsters the roaches had brought with them? It was likely that a lot of them had edible brains. She loaded a new bolt. If they had arrived here a little earlier, she could have converted more of the local population into her loyal followers.

  Hmm, but maybe that was adjacent to the answer. Or at least one answer among many.

  //Sally: Hey!

  //Sally: Special task for you, Bully.

  //Sally: We need some research doing~

  “Once we get out of here,” she said, her eyes going away from the System and to the demon. “You’re going on one of those bug ships.”

  “I’m sorry; I think I misheard you.” Edward grimaced.

  Sally grinned. “Ground troops are a distraction. We want to take down the ships, and who better than our master of betrayal?”

  “Flattery is… not the worst thing, but it doesn’t make the prospect seem any more palatable.”

  “We’re not here to save this world, Ed. Taking a few of their ships out would be nice, but gathering information is the most important thing. Knowing how their vehicles operate could turn the tide in our favor.”

  Edward deflated. “You know, you used to be a lot more lighthearted and manic.”

  She smiled and fired her crossbow. “A gal is allowed to mature, eh? It’s always the stakes. Once we have the upper hand or I feel Sanctuary isn’t at risk, the goofiness will return.”

  The lack of brains on the dinner table was also a factor, but that wasn’t something she could control. While she wasn’t as businesslike as Theo, she knew when it was time to focus. As she loaded another bolt into her hand crossbow, her eyes went up to the STAR window.

  Jackie had sent an updated map of the area outside the fortress corridor. From the looks of it, most of the roaches with more than five brain cells had decided that walking into a lit oven was a bad idea. Only a couple of experienced Radochs remained to push their weaker subordinates through the smoky corridor for dubious reward. The fire had seemingly covered the scent marked on the Outsiders.

  Not that the fully picture of the world was looking any more favorable. Each spaceship had spawned its own army. Thousands of Initiates led by hundreds of higher rank bugs. Small groups of even more powerful roaches, as well as special squads moving around giant Monsters or other captured and trained entities from other planets.

  Still, the fact that they were still out there and moving meant one thing - they hadn’t found the part of Archie hidden on this World. While she had her own thoughts about putting that jigsaw puzzle back together—including what it could mean for Sanctuary—she had shelved them to focus her energy on the more straightforward task of killing.

  If they could find at least one weakness of the Radochs, then even if they couldn’t save the world, it would still count as a win.

  Sally lowered her weapon and glanced around the room before grinning at the demon. “Do you know if the Mail function works here?”

  He gave a brief nod. “I believe so, ten-minute delay. Why do you ask?”

  “It’s time for us to get a little manic.”