Everyone got dressed and started the long sojourn up the stairs.
There were five separate groups. The first group-and the largest, numbering 100 people-were taking the easiest route. RK had forewarned them that it wouldn’t be easy even if it was the easiest, that they would have to be smart and not take big risks if they wanted to get out alive.
Many people had nodded at that, as though it were obvious.
Tex had the distinct feeling they had no idea what was in store for them. None of them had ever fought a Book user before. Sure, they’d clearly encountered magic, but not something that was actively malicious. Dolan was rather tepid when it came to that kinda stuff.
The second group consisted of people who worked in the casino, around fifty people. Unsurprisingly, none of the non-workers wanted to associate with them. They’d take the second hardest route. Surprisingly, they were the group with four flamethrowers. Even the first group had only received two, despite outnumbering them.
Group number three was informal-Dolan’s group of twenty hanger’s-on. He’d managed to snag a flamethrower, too. Two security guards who weren’t conjured minions stood next to him with flamethrowers as well. His groupies crowded around them, Dolan standing proud as a king amongst them.
The fourth group was headed by Todd and Mark. Whatever people saw in the guy, Tex had no idea. At least thirty people thought he was worth a shot. Mark was wielding a flamethrower as was Todd. They were the only two with flamethrowers. Tex wondered if Todd had his Books still. If he did…well, he wished him the best. Didn’t expect any of them to survive, though.
Tex and his friends were the fifth, with the hardest trek through the city. T Hey had the advantage of holding the Books, so it was only fair. To them, one flamethrower was afforded. Dustin had the honors of holding it. Apparently, he kept a cool head in every scenario RK had divined.
They made it to the main floor of the Casino.
The glass had long since decayed away, dripping transformative fluid onto the ground in faintly green puddles. Vines had overgrown everything, carpeting the walls of the casino like Kudzu. Nothing remained of the pool tables and slot machines and poker tables, just little tiny trees sprouting everywhere.
Mixed in amongst the undergrowth were ripe berry bushes, grape vines and cherry trees, likely the remains of cocktail mixes and Maraschino cherries. Tex wondered what they’d taste like for a moment. They looked so juicy and inviting…he shook his head. Way too tempting, it’d probably transform whoever ate them.
“Come on, the fruit’s fresh, why not eat some?” A man argued angrily with his group.
“Because everything turns you into something, idiot.” Another man replied. “Why tempt fucking fate?”
The man shook his head and stomped off. Tex noticed he’d pocketed the berries. That might be an issue for them later. Not his problem, though.
“Umbrellas up!” Dolan ordered.
His group shakily brought their umbrellas up and carefully made their way through the remains of the casino. Other groups saw the umbrellas come out and followed suit, trying their best to avoid the dripping water. Tex and his group opened their umbrellas as well. Tex realized there was tension in the air. Everyone was wondering who’d bite it first.
Tex’s umbrella was trembling.
“Hey, relax.” RK said softly, clasping his hand around Tex’s. “It’s not gonna be us who gets got first.”
Tex swallowed and nodded, trying to calm himself.
“Sorry,” Tex replied, “It’s just…I’m alone now. Troy and Dustin are human and straight now.”
“Yeah…” RK frowned, glancing longingly at Dustin and Troy. “I guess I hadn’t realized how much I’d like them. Even stupid stoner Troy.”
“Good tongue?” Tex smirked.
“The best.” RK shivered. “I just feel bad for them. They were both lovers for far longer than we were lovers to them. And now they’re straight. It must be hard.”
Tex noticed them shooting each other glances when they didn’t think the other was looking.
“Oh, I think they’ll work something out.” Tex smiled.
As they were talking, the first group made it out the front doors. Group 1 huddled under their umbrellas, looking around for their route before finally finding it. The map Tex had provided them was difficult to read now that the city was becoming a forest.
“Tell us when.” A guy in group one asked RK.
RK shut his eyes while whispering something. It wasn’t long after the last word left his lips that his eyes flew back open, panic on his face.
“Run! Now!” RK yelled. “Go, Group 1, or it’ll catch you!”
“It?” Tex asked.
“A fucking Kraken.” RK was breathing heavily now, eyes scanning the treeline beyond the meadow. “How the hell did it evade my divination?!”
“Wait!” Tex said, wheeling on RK, “I’ve seen the meadow. It’s filled with potholes and deep puddles. Running is a bad idea!”
“I know.” RK whispered. “But it’s the only way to save our Group.”
Group 1 started running across the meadow, and things went wrong quickly.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Royce, Lincoln and Mallory only partially heard RK’s warning.
They heard the part about running, and that a monster was approaching. But they’d forgotten about one simple thing that even they had known about, as they had been watching through the windows as the storm had roared around the casino: The puddles were still actively transforming people, and they had to avoid the water at all costs.
It wasn’t their fault, of course. Running through a grassy field where puddles lay concealed amid thick weeds and tangled brush was incredibly difficult as it was. All it took was one wrong step into a hidden potholes to splash themselves or others with a blast of cool, clear liquid that would spell the end of their current form of life.
What they should have done, in hindsight, was spread out. All of them. But humans had a sort of herd instinct that compelled them to follow a group when stressed, so when the first of Group 1 started running across the parking lot, most followed directly behind them.
A few others had scattered. They fared a bit better than the rest. The ones who were left, who didn’t run…well, they escaped the parking lot, at least.
Royce was a younger man, a former track runner. Lincoln was a bit older, mid-thirties. Mallory was Lincoln’s wife. The couple had received a free invite by Dolan to come experience his Casino in its opening month. Royce was a local and had experienced the Casino twice.
What Royce didn’t remember was that he’d been a fat janitor’s buttplug for the last two months, until Tex had Mass Dispelled the Casino. Lincoln and Mallory, on the other hand, had ended up doing rather well, no bad transformations, though it was mostly because Mallory was not a gambler. She’d stopped Lincoln’s more self destructive impulses.
Of course, none of that mattered as they now ran across the wet field. The waders kept the majority of the moisture off of them, but a few drops flew in the air and splattered on them. Not enough to trigger any transformation, but it was clear the waders weren’t entirely fool-proof.
The worse thing about running in waders is how heavy they were. It was only about ten extra pounds on the legs, but anyone who’d never run wearing weights before would struggle.
In that respect, Royce was doing rather well. Every few feet he’d have to hop to avoid a puddle that lay hidden in the tall grass, only becoming aware of them just before he stepped into them. Unfortunately, his newfound self-confidence evaporated as a scream came from off to his left.
Royce glanced over as a man slipped and fall head-first into a puddle. He hit with a splash, and Royce winced. The man painfully got to his feet, but Royce could see splotches of green spreading across his skin.
The man wobbled in place, and Royce wondered why he was still standing in the transformative liquid. Then he noticed more water rushing out of the sleeves of the man’s shirt. The green discoloration spread across his body, and the man slowly collapsed into the puddle, becoming nothing more than a colony of algae.
Royce’s heart pounded and he desperately kept his focus on the path ahead, searching for more hidden puddles. He could hear other people behind him and felt a surge of anger course through him. Why were they following him so closely? One misstep and he’d plunge into the water. Were they too dumb to follow their own path?
Royce tried slowing down, but the two following behind him didn’t stop their pursuit. He’d feel their hot breaths on the back of his neck, and instead of passing him, they’d push him forward. Anger boiled his blood.
“Knock that shit off,” He gasped.
“Fucking move, man!” Lincoln demanded
“Find your own fucking path, stop following me!” Royce shot back, hopping a puddle.
But they didn’t and Royce grew more and more frustrated the further they ran. With all the running he was doing, it felt like he was making quick progress, but deep down he knew that he wasn’t.
He was having to path around big puddles, hop over hidden ones, and try not to slip on the slick grass. But the end of the large lot was looming up ahead, towards the treeline where the puddles were more obvious.
He felt the couple’s hot breath on him again and snarled in frustration.
Royce came to an abrupt halt. Let the fuckers pass him.
Instead, the two plowed into him in an explosive tangle of limbs and expletives that ended as Roy felt his boot slam down deeply into a puddle.
Luckily, he had landed on his feet, though he was too preoccupied to notice the water that was slowly seeping through his jeans..
“The fuck did you stop for, you hurt my wife!” Lincoln screamed at him, helping his wife to her feet. She shot Royce a venomous glare.
“Stop following me you fucking retards.” Royce spat.
“Fuck you, you little shit. You can’t talk to me that way!” Mallory, the wife, spat back.
The couple advanced on him angrily. Royce felt his lip curl in disgust. They were seriously looking for a fight here, of all places? He was so angry now that he didn’t notice he had been standing in the puddle for half a minute. If he’d moved right now, he would have been okay.
Instead, he stood his ground as the couple fell upon him in a flurry of fists and slaps.
He landed a good hit on the bitch’s face, making her scream in rage and rake his face with her nails. The man bellowed and landed a rocking blow to his chin. Royce stumbled back. Or… he tried to. His feet felt glued to the spot in the middle of the puddle. He suddenly became aware of coldness, a tingling that was creeping up his legs, and a strange numbness following close behind.
The unexpected feeling of his feet stuck in the mud caused him to overbalance as his torso tipped towards the ground. Reaching out, he managed to catch his descent with a hand. A hand that only caught onto solid ground after it had splashed into a puddle.
He tried to push himself off up, but just like with his feet, his hand felt like it was anchored into the ground below him. Royce gaped down in horror, feeling his fingers dig into the mud at the bottom of the puddle involuntarily, spreading and clenching.
His two assailants stopped and backed away, smiling evilly.
“Oh, looks like you got what was coming to you.” The woman sneered at him.
“Should a thought twice about fucking with us,” The man smirked.
“F-fucking with you?!” Royce gasped, horror and rage warring in his mind.
There was a sudden tightness in his jeans. Royce glanced down and found to his horror that his legs were rounding into cylinders. The seams burst, revealing rigid bark covering them. A line of rigid plant fibers continued to creep up his legs and that pins-and-needles feeling came with it. His barky body below was mostly numb, though he could feel something cold being siphoned up into him.
In terror, he realized his roots were drinking more of the contaminated water. These fucks had tailgated him and then slammed him into a puddle and HE deserved this? Fuck them!
The couple laughed and walked around the puddle, sparing him a glance of disdain. Anger flared in Royce’s stomach, momentarily shifting the cold terror he was feeling. With a heave, he used his remaining hand to splash them on their unprotected heads and backs.
“Jesus!” The man jumped at the touch of cold water on his back.
“Yo, what the fuck!” The woman wailed as she realized what Royce had done.
When they turned to scream profanities at him, Royce kept splashing them, getting water in their faces and open mouths.
“Get fucked!” Royce spat.
As the two screamed, their voices turning into airy screeches, Royce felt the tingles hit his torso. Breathing became difficult. He struggled for as long as he could. Then the tingles crept up to his chest, collapsing it, shrinking it down into a cylinder.
Royce couldn’t breathe anymore. The tingles continued in a slow, and steady creep. He grew lightheaded from lack of air. By the time the tingles crept up his neck, feeling tight, as though it were choking him, spots of light danced in his vision.
Then the tingles reached his head. It felt like a vise, constricting his skull, squishing his thoughts together. He opened his mouth for a breathless scream and his tongue extended into a branch, pressing his jaws apart. There was a ripping sensation and a flash of bright pain behind his eyes, then his vision suddenly went dark as more branches ripped their way through his oozing sockets.
His brains mushed, thoughts scrambling before blanking completely as the jellified brain matter grew fibrous. His hair lifted off his cylindrical skull, turning into more branches, and then Royce was no more. A thoughtless, inanimate tree stood in the puddle, leaves and flowering buds unfurling from the bare branches.
As Royce was busy turning into a tree, Lincoln and Mallory were screaming and spitting curses, desperately trying to scrape the water off of them.
Their skin prickled as little needles shoved their way out. The needles grew suddenly fluffy, and Mallory realized what they were. Downy feather. She let out a squawk of indignation, the squawk growing more and more pronounced.
Beside her, Lincoln began to shrink and he screamed and all that came out was a loud honk.
Mallory quickly found herself following suit, her bones crunching, growing lighter, skin becoming oily as bigger, thicker feathers painfully pushing themselves out of her skin. She felt her face crunch, lips growing into a bill. With a pained honk, she felt her skull cave in on itself.
Then they were just two geese waddling around the tall grass.
-=-=-=-=-==
The other groups watched from the doorways of the Casino as Group 1 met its fate. A few made it out, though that wasn’t saying much. Malformed trees stood in puddles, ripped and torn clothing draping across their limbs.
Here and there, were piles of soaked clothes. Rabbits, squirrels, and one very confused badger pulled themselves free, shaking the water off their fur. They licked themselves clean and bounded or borrowed out of sight.
“Holy shit!” Dolan said softly. He wheeled on RK. “You bastard! You knew this would happen!”
“It’s not over.” RK replied coolly.
“You just used them to find all the puddles!” Todd spat angrily.
RK shot a glance at Todd. “I still have no earthly idea why you’re here instead of back in your own universe.”
“That’s not important!” Mark pushed himself forward, glaring at RK. “How cold are you?”
“You’re wasting time.” RK replied, crossing his arms. “I am maximizing our chances at defeating Mary Anne. Only one of us needs to be alive to do it. If you knew that sacrificing yourself momentarily would result in my saving everyone, would you do it?”
“What?” Mark said, confused.
“That’s the game, here. That’s the question you all have to ask yourselves.” RK raised his voice. “If you do what I say, 15 people will survive. AND, everyone else will be revived later.”
Angry mutters arose.
“Group 2,” RK addressed the fifty survivors. “Run.”
“Fuck no, man!” A guy with a flamethrower said. “I ain’t going on no suicide run!”
RK glanced at the ground and stepped back.
The man followed him forward, spitting curses.
“If you think my ass is going to go- !”
And then he stepped on a vine.
Instantly, it curled around his leg.
The man screamed as the vine tightened around his leg painfully, then yanked him out of the door and up into the air. The screams grew distant, though a bit more panicked. Then fluids dribbled from the sky outside the Casino, splattering on the concrete. The scream rose and rose. Then, abruptly, it stopped. Torn shreds of cloth fell to the ground, splattering more fluids across the rotting concrete.
With growing horror, everyone’s eyes looked down at the ground and saw more probing tendrils slithering into the Casino.
“I did warn you.” RK said to Dolan.