by thedoctor, Grimm, Sonhaven and GoozX
Monroeville, Pennsylvania:
"This is Kathy Lee at the Diamond Depository here in downtown Philadelphia, where police are still looking for the group of metahumans who pulled off an amazing crime. So far, the police are saying that at least four, maybe more, metapowered individuals stormed the depository and took all six of the employees hostage before making a miraculous getaway with more than ten million dollars in precious jewels. All of the employees were injured and have been taken to the hospital for immediate medical treatment. A note left by the assailants identifies them as the same group that has been committing similar crimes in banks in Chicago, New York, and L.A. The group calls itself the Metahuman Brotherhood of..."
"Damn reception!" Jason Hill said as he pounded his fist on top of the TV. The county clerk's office had a small, portable television under one of the desks. The reception had been poor and fading until it turned completely into black-and-white static on the screen. After a few moments, he gave up and returned to his search for weapons of any kind.
"What do you know about small towns?" Dirk Bell asked Tayden out in the hallway as he lit a cigar.
"Apparently, they don't like smoking in their courthouses," the angel said as he pointed to a large No Smoking sign above Dirk's head.
"Other than their fascist ways," the gunslinger said after letting out a big ring of smoke, "they like to economize. Put as much as you can in one place. Make life easier." He walked down a flight of stairs and stopped in front of a door with a glass window in the center. Sheriff Dept. was stenciled on the glass. "And easier it is."
The gunslinger and the angel walked in while Jason Hill finally caught up with them. A bullet to a Masterlock made the gun cabinet open to them to pillage. "Mostly shotguns and a few snub-nosed .38s. They won't do much but slow the bastards down." Dirk made his way deeper into the abandoned station while Tayden and Hill finished emptying the gun cabinet.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" they heard come from the back. They ran to see what was wrong and then realized when they arrived. Dirk had gone into the back to the holding cells. There, several accused criminals sat in their cells. They looked hungry. When the zombie horde attacked this peaceful little town, the sheriff and his deputies must have gone to take care of the problem without knowing what they were getting into. In doing so, they had left everyone who had been arrested the previous few nights alone. Everyone from drunk drivers to bar brawlers and car thieves lay wasting away.
"We should do something for them," Tayden said as he began to think of ways to ease their pain.
"Yeah," Dirk responded, "but I'm sure you wouldn't like my idea."
Below the Dragon's Den bookstore:
Vengeance stalked on through the hallway until coming to a door. He reached up and grabbed the handle and found it locked.
Stepping back slightly, he jumped forward, ramming into the door, and knocking it off its hinges. The door fell back and started to slide downward. Vengeance had found what he was looking for: the cellar. He began to walk downward into the darkness.
The courthouse:
Pop!
The clear plastic covering separating the heavily salted and sweetened snack treats from Tayden and Jason cracked open after Tayden put an executive chair through it.
"I've been hanging around Dirk too long," the angel mused. "I'm starting to like breaking stuff."
Jason laughed. "I've been living off these snack machines for a little while, now. I've been so out of it, I've actually been putting money in them. Ha... How stupid is that?" Jason just stared at the broken machine.
Tayden looked up at the scared kid. "Hey, man... you've done a good job. You're alive... and now the calvary's here," he said with a smile.
"Come on. Let's get these to the hungry men who need them." They then hurried back to the sheriff's office.
Dirk glanced at the two as they entered the room. "About time. I'm hungry."
"Fuck you, man! We eat first!" So said the only man left in a cell, a long-haired, bearded, biker type who went by the name of Bad Bob.
"Your mouth is why your ass is still in there... so you eat last, if you eat at all," Dirk said matter-of-factly to the denim-clad prisoner.
Tayden threw Dirk a Snickers bar. "There's more upstairs, so eat up."
The hungry men that had been let out of the cells attacked the food in Jason's arms as if they were a clawing group of undead. Tayden, Dirk, and Jason stood at the door as the others consumed their snack treats.
"Have any trouble finding it?" Dirk asked.
"No. Mr. Hill knew where everything was. He's been held up here awhile," Tayden said.
"Uh-huh," Dirk remarked with suspicion. "Then why the hell was the front door wide open when we ran up?"
Jason quickly looked at Dirk with saucer eyes. "What do you mean the door was open?!"
With that said, a crash was heard upstairs.
"Been here for at least two hours, and not one of us thought to search the place." Dirk shook his head. "Well, at least we won't have to worry about those hungry fucks outside eating our brains."
Grimm and Priest walked through hallways in the basement. As if in a maze, they went in circles, hitting dead ends and ending up where they had begun.
"Something's not right here," Grimm said, looking around. "It's almost as if they designed this basement to hide..."
Before he could finish, footsteps could be heard in the near distance. Both men turned. "Dirk?" "Tayden?"
No reply.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Priest said as he held his throbbing arm.
Grimm clutched his axe and looked around, looking for any clue of who was with them. A crack was heard, and a far wall began to crumble. Half a dozen zombies were able to break through the weak exterior of the wall, and behind them were more maze-like areas.
The zombies attacked Grimm, leaving Priest alone. Grimm didn't notice this as he hacked away at the undead. Priest turned and saw a figure who seemed different than the zombies, but before he could get a good look, the figure threw an object that exploded on impact. The floor rumbled, and the ceiling above Grimm and Priest fell in, separating the two by layers and layers of brick, marble, and stone.
Priest clawed at the rubble but wasn't able to get anywhere. Turning around, he saw the entrance back upstairs. Suddenly, he felt sick. Falling to one knee, his hands shook and head sweated. His last thought before passing out was, Not again.