Chapter 2

"So what do we do now?" Kevin looked at Sam as he asked. He would have addressed the group as a whole but Sean and Jason had begun a child-like slap fight where neither of the two were landing any blows.

"I'm not sure, that-" He pointed to the monster corpse on the ground. "Shouldn't exist. It looks like an orc right out of a video game."

"Except it's real and is bleeding all over the ground." It appeared that for the moment the leftover adrenaline from the fight was helping their brains accept what was happening fairly easily.

"Oh, I know!" Jason shouted as he jumped back disentangling himself from Sean, who took a moment to stop swinging his arms and open his eyes. "We should go to my neighbors house, he watches the news so he might know what's up."

"What do we do about the orc?" Sam asked hesitantly.

Jason shrugged. "Leave it?"

The four of them spent a few minutes casting around for a better idea before eventually agreeing to do as Jason suggested and leave it there for the time being. They crossed the driveway and headed over to the house next to the one Jason was renting.

"You guys are gonna like him. He's old but he's really cool, like he has a Harley in the garage."

The other three exchanged looks, out of the four of them only Jason was particularly interested in motorcycles. They walked up to the front door and Jason knocked, the four of them stood around awkwardly silent as they waited.

"Maybe he isn't home." Sam said after a few minutes. Jason knocked again frustrated. "He's retired, he's always home."

There was a thump from upstairs in response to Jason's incessant pounding on the door and he turned around a smug smile on his face.

"See like I said, always ho-" There was a shattering sound above them as if something had launched itself through the window. Glass fell around them as they quickly covered their heads with their arms. A high-pitched squealing sound abruptly cut off right in the middle of them as a small green body seemed to bounce off the pavement. The four of them backpedaled in opposite directions surprised at the thing's sudden appearance.

As it stood it became apparent that it was roughly the size of a toddler, standing at about 2 feet tall and clutching a piece of glass in its hands. It recovered its feet quickly despite the potbelly that seemed disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body. Blood red eyes landed on Sam who was looking back at the thing with a bewildered look on his face. Blood, surprisingly red in color, dripped down from the fist holding the glass shard as it crouched, legs apart, preparing to pounce.

Sam's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards, his gaze was locked onto the monster, which was already in the air coming right at him. His foot caught on something in his blind retreat and he shut his eyes as he fell. Sam landed hard on his back cringing, expecting to feel the glass slicing into him, but the pain never came. He sat up and opened his eyes to see the little green monster writhing on the ground in front of him in apparent agony. From behind it came a melodic yet aggressively out of tune voice. "Cupshot!" Sam raised his eyes to see Kevin standing there with a self satisfied smirk.

Seeing his friends all looking at him instantly chased away the fear Sam felt, and instead replaced it with a burning anger at the little creature. He quickly regained his feet and began to vent his rage by stomping repeatedly on the head of the prone monster. There were loud unintelligent shouts on both sides as Sam sunk further and further into his anger.

The noise eventually drew the attention of someone a few doors down and they stepped outside to investigate. It was what seemed to be a middle aged man and his wife, wearing a set of matching pajamas. Jason turned around in time to see both sets of eyes widen in terror as they saw the four boys, but before he could say anything they disappeared back indoors.

Their door shut with a slam that finally roused Sam from his fit of rage and Kevin took the opportunity to silently usher him away from his victim and towards the door. Sam almost seemed to strut away from the now deformed creature with his back straight and his nose in the air, Kevin following behind him just shook his head and motioned for the others to come as well.

Arriving at the door Jason bounded forward in front of his friends and held a hand out.

"I've got this." He said.

At that he reared back and with a grunt, shot his foot forward kicking the door hard right next to the handle. When nothing happened he tried again, and again, after several attempts to kick in the door he stepped back his breathing heavy.

"That's a sturdy door." He gasped.

"Let me try." Sam volunteered. "My legs are pretty strong. "

His friends rolled their eyes but moved aside anyway. Sam lined himself up and with a dramatic intake of breath lunged forward and kicked, his foot hit off center sliding along the door instead of impacting it. As his foot slid to the side Sam was thrown off balance and he fell, the concrete underneath him scraped his arm, opening a few small cuts. His friends waited for him to stand back up but instead he lay on the ground groaning, he gripped his arm where the scrape was holding it out in front of him. He let go and his hand trembled as he brought it up to look. He groaned again and gripped his arm tighter.

"Yeah, it's bleeding."

He seemed to rock back and forth on the ground as his friends watched. The dramatic display rivaled that of a basketball player searching for a foul from the referee. As Sam lay there in seeming agony, Kevin reached over him and inserted a key in the door. The lock clicked and he pushed the door open, stepping back he performed a mock bow towards Jason and Sean who stood there, mouths agape.

"Where did you get that?" Jason asked.

"From under that pot over there." Kevin pointed to an overturned flower pot laying a few feet away.

Jason shook his head at the clichéd hiding spot as he turned and entered the house, stepping over Sam as he did so. Kevin wasn't far behind but Sean just stood there staring at the flower pot, the ground underneath where it stood was wet but there was a clear dry spot in the shape of a key. After a few moments he turned and followed the other two into the house.

"Come on Sam." Sean said, stepping over him.

He walked into the living room of the house just past the entrance way and sat down in a comfy looking recliner. Neither Jason nor Kevin were in sight so he watched exasperated as Sam crawled and wiggled his way inside the house, still holding his arm, and still moaning.

It didn't take long for Sean to get bored and start fiddling with things around him, he reached over and tried turning on a lamp, nothing happened. Shrugging he grabbed the TV remote and pressed the power button, and again nothing happened. Frustrated he stood up and went over to the light switch set on the wall across from him, he flicked it up and down several times before letting out a loud dramatic sigh. Jason chose that moment to come down stairs, appearing in the entrance way by Sam.

"What's your problem? " Jason asked.

"There's no power." Sean complained as he flicked the light switch a few more times as if to emphasize his words.

"Yeah my buddy isn't here either." He paused. "Where's Kevin?"

As if on cue they heard the clinking of bottles as Kevin appeared around the corner speaking in the third person. " 'Kevin' found the liquor cabinet!" He crowed.

Not long after the four boys sat around a campfire centered on the tile floor in the kitchen, each with their own bottle. Jason had smashed up some furniture and started the fire due to Sean's persistent complaints about the lack of light in the house. Kevin had logically been opposed to this idea due to the rooms lack of ventilation for the smoke. However in response to this Sam, already halfway through his own bottle in a characteristically overly dramatic attempt to drown any pain he might have felt, had stood up and thrown one of the few remaining chairs through a window. This allowed a low breeze to pass through and a large majority of the smoke from the already burning fire to filter out of the room. Sam sat down with a triumphant smile on his face, winked at Kevin, and took another swig.

Kevin had shaken his head and picked up his own bottle, he threw his head back the bottle to his lips, in what appeared to be an attempt to down the entire contents in a single breath. Sam not to be out down finished his own bottle in the same way and reached for a fresh one, opening it he then, oblivious to the horrified looks on both Jason and Sean's faces, began to pour the liquid into his mouth, sloping it all down his front as he did so.

It was no surprise that Sam was the first to fall asleep that evening as eventually all four boys layed down, the tile beneath them warm from the fire, with their eyes shut tight before the sun had even begun to set. They stayed like that all night, long after the fire had gone out and of the loud banging on the door that occurred early into the night.

A group of four men had stood outside banging loudly on the door, each dressed in a military uniform. However not one carried a firearm, instead each of them were armed with a long pole with a knife tied to the end of it. Getting no response they moved back to join the others, a total of one hundred men moved steadily down the street, knocking on doors and working together to kill or chase away any monsters. In this way they cleared street after street gathering any civilians that opened their doors into the center of their group as they proceeded.

Those in the back hung up large signs and posters in what they considered a vain attempt to alert any left behind to what was happening. One such poster hung on the door of the house, where the four boys currently slept. It read, ' US army base still active, Inglewood, California. Safe Haven.'